Rise of a Kitsune: The Life of Uzumaki Naruto
by Seitora
Summary: Meeting Kyuubi at five and joining ANBU at eight, Naruto Uzumaki resolves to become the most powerful being alive. Watch as Naruto transcends all limits to achieve his goals. NarutoOC, superNaruto, eventual DemonNaruto, heavy fuuinjutsu/wind elemental use
1. A1C1: Beginnings

**Arc One: Prelude to Darkness**

**Chapter One: Beginnings**

Rain pounded the pavement as dark clouds loomed overcast, promising more still to come. In a respectable part of the Hidden Village of Konohagakure, many people were running along the streets, desperate to get inside and stay dry and warm, while people who had thought to bring umbrellas went at a slower pace. Slowly but steadily, the onslaught of water began to increase, until the intensity of its splattering was enough to cause pain to some, and the sound it made on the cement only echoed its awesome fury.

However, some chose to remain outside, not out of intent for philosophical meandering in a strange yet calming environment, but for more sinister purposes. In a nearby back alley, raindrops were dripping off of a small group of such people as they took turns beating up a five-year-old boy, who could easily stand out in a crow by his sunshine-gold hair, bright blue eyes and three whisker marks adorning each cheek. For them, the rain was nothing more than a nuisance, a minor irritant that took no precedence in comparison to the duty that they were fulfilling, to purify the town by purging it of its demonic influence. The boy understood none of this except for the pain, the ebb and flow of nerve signals searing his mind, as he drifted between consciousness and unconsciousness. For him, the rain was something of benefit, as it washed away the blood and dirt that was covering his body, and cooled down the searing white fire that he could feel throughout his whole body.

The blond-haired boy didn't know why this was occurring to him. He had heard something about a festival going on, and so he had left the orphanage to come and participate. Little did he realise that it would also be his undoing. As soon as he made it to the outskirts of where the festival was to take place, one of the people who were currently beating on him saw him, and a large group of people turned on him and chased him. He had tried to escape, but ran into a dead end. With no way out, he had accepted the beatings that came – he was often treated to punches and kicks at the orphanage – but then three people came up with weapons. One man broke open a bottle to leave the top section that he held onto with jagged edges. A ninja had remembered his kunai, while a third person got inventive and took the metal lid off of a nearby garbage can. It was when he felt the shinobi stab him in his forearm that he came to the startling, horrifying conclusion: they were trying to _kill_ him.

However, they were not even going to let him off that easily, as they hesitated at a direct one-hit kill, instead going through the motions of trying to torture him to death. Believing that his death was near, he finally began to cry. He had not done at the orphanage once he realised that the matrons who beat him would only become enraged and beat him even harder, but here, nobody could distinguish his tears from the rain, nobody could hear his sobs over their own violent chants of bloodlust and the rain, and any movements from his sobs would be chalked up to involuntary convulsions from the pain.

_So, this is how it ends_...he thought. Life hadn't done anything for him. Even though he had just today turned five, he could remember only a few happy memories, of ramen and his grandpa-in-spirit, the Third Hokage, who he had sometimes encountered on the streets and talked to. He would miss his ojiji, and the kind young girl and old man who managed the ramen stand he always went to, but even his affection for the three were not enough to hold the frayed threads that barely held him to life. He knew most children didn't remember anything from before the age of four, but he remembered all too well – agony tended to imprint itself upon your mind after a while, and the one time he was nearly burned alive was something that would not fade away, causing him to often have fits in his sleep.

What surprised him, however, was how much pain he had been tolerating up to this point. Usually he would have passed out long ago, unable to handle the frenzy of electric signals from his nerves to his brain as they worked overtime, but this time he wasn't. Unknown even to Naruto, a primal rage had been building up in his system, hidden from him only because it was still dwarfed by his suffering. The rage kept him barely awake, but more importantly, it awoke something else entirely. Deep inside Naruto there was contained a great beast, who after five years of insanity had finally been affected by the strong emotions of its container, and it too began to stay awake, witnessing in horror at what its vessel was going through.

And then just as suddenly as the crowd had started to beat him up had it stopped. They did not do it out of any goodwill towards the boy, but because of the weasel-masked ANBU standing in front of them, projecting killer intent strong enough to cause some to pass out, and force many more to their knees. "What are you fools doing!" The yell was controlled through clenched teeth, but the righteous anger behind it was enough to scare those who had hitherto only felt relatively minor effects. The ANBU stared at the ninja in the crowd long enough, trying to pick out a name from the back of his head, before muttering, "Riku, if you don't have your hitai-ate turned into the Hokage's office by tomorrow morning I will hunt you out and I will kill you." Making sure that the chunin understood that wasn't a passive threat, he shook his head, his anger still washing over the crowd, mingling with the rain. He would have loved to take every last one of them to see Ibiki, but the life of the boy behind him took precedence. Turning around, he picked up the now-unconscious Naruto, whispered in his ear "It's ok, Naruto", and immediately shunshin'ed to the ANBU medical room – while he knew that there were a few people at the regular hospitals who wouldn't hesitate to help Naruto, he didn't wish to waste the time that it would take to find the diamond in the rough there.

---

Naruto woke up standing. That was the first thing he noticed, before he managed to take in his surroundings. As if those bad men beating him up weren't enough, they threw him into the sewers. He blinked, before looking at his arms and realizing they were in perfect shape. He could have sworn that somebody had stabbed him not five minutes ago, in addition to the bruises and cuts delivered by all the others. Looking down, he saw that he was ankle deep in grimy water, yet at the same time there was no feeling of wetness to the slime.

His apparent lack of wounds contrary to his beating didn't hold his attention for long, though; looking around some more, he was intrigued by the pipes that led along the sewers. Every half second or so, they were pulsating to a steady beat, some of them with red, most of them blue. The blue pipes gave off a feeling of calm to him, but it was the red pipes that caught his attention, as the red pipes had a single linear pipe, while the blue branched off in many directions of the sewers. Throwing caution to the winds, he followed the path given by the red pipes, his natural curiosity pushing him forward. It was a short trek; five minutes later, he stopped before great steel double doors. A feeling of finality hung over him, as if a turning point existed beyond that door. It was now or never for Naruto. Gathering up the courage to do so, he pushed open the doors.

The room that awaited him didn't disappoint. Unlike the cold, cramped tunnels that made up the sewer, what awaited him was a giant hall with an expanse going on for as far as he could see, with pitch blackness blocking off sight of the other end of the room. Most interestingly was a line of iron bars that went from the ground to the ceiling, perhaps a cage, effectively blocking him off from going past the first forty feet of the area. Solidifying the notion of the bars making up a cage was a door in the center of it; a small piece of paper melded to the door and the next nearest bar kept it from opening. Naruto looked a bit closer, spotting a kanji that he couldn't read on the piece of paper.

"**So, my jailer finally visits me..."**

Naruto jumped back in sudden fright. To him, a voice meant a person, and a person meant someone more who might beat him up, bars and door or not. Where the pitch blackness kept him from seeing past the bars, a red glow started to illuminate a figure. A giant figure, in fact, going up perhaps forty stories. Stumbling back from the sight, and nearly tripping, several features began to take up his attention; most notable were the nine tails swishing on the back side of the beast. Looking upwards, he saw an elongated head with a snout and whiskers and ears poking out from the top of its head as opposed to its head, which brought him the conclusion that this some sort of canine. Surveying the giant before him again, he thought it seemed to be a fox.

A fox.

"_Damn fox."_

"_Why won't you die you stupid fox!"_

"_There it is! Kill the fox!"_

Could this be the fox all those people were talking about? Naruto shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts of all the negative emotions that were constantly directed at him, and looked back up at the giant fox. For its part, the fox merely waited for the look of thought on Naruto's face to pass before speaking up again.

"**I see you are curious about what I am doing here, are you not?" **A small nod signified a yes. **"Listen up, gaki, first thing is first. What is your name?"**

Naruto hesitated. On the few occasions he met someone he didn't hate, they would eventually ask for his name. When he gave it, the look on their faces would inevitably turn into a scowl, or even worse a malicious grin that promised pain. As such, he didn't wish to give out his name, but in this particular situation, it somehow seemed almost _right_ to give it. "Uh, U-u-Uzumaki N-Naruto, sir."

The fox frowned at Naruto's stutter. It then occurred to him that he was probably being overwhelmed by his own presence; with a subtle shift of the aura that he gave off, the boy began to calm down. But something still seemed off to him about his speech patterns. **"Well then, I do not really give out my name to many, but you ningens know me best as Kyuubi no Kitsune."**

Now, Naruto may have been isolated from the rest of Konoha society, but even he managed to pick up some customs and history. In fact, earlier that day the matron at the orphanage had mentioned that the festival was the celebration of the death of the Kyuubi after its attack against Konohoa (while glaring at him all the while), and she had recommended to him personally that he go. Now that he thought about it, perhaps she was trying to get him beat up. So to see a giant fox claim that he was the Kyuubi no Kitsune was a bit shocking for him, which reflected itself on his face. "K-Kyuubi?! You're dead!"

Being put off at the lack of any eloquency to Naruto's broken speech, Kyuubi took this moment to break any misconceptions. **"Most likely they merely told you that to cover up the truth. In reality, under normal circumstances only a demon or a celestial agent can kill a bijuu, especially me, the nine-tailed fox. One can only seal us away into objects. Up to the fourth-tailed bijuu, that might be possible; however, from there on we simply possess far too much power to seal away into inanimate objects. Instead, we can only be sealed into humans."** He paused there for awhile, allowing Naruto just enough time to absorb the newfound information, but not enough for him to reflect on the implications. **"However, even then there is a problem in doing so. Demonic chakra, or yokai, is a foreign agent to the human body. It corrupts. Even a small amount is enough to kill a large man. The only way to get around this is to find a body not grown enough to reject the yokai, so that it will grow while being used to and accepting the yokai. In other words, it has to be an infant not more than a few weeks old, and in my case, I was sealed into a child born the same day.**

A few seconds passed as a series of looks passed on the child's face, which had been blank up until the last few sentences (it was at this point that it began to dawn on the fox that the boy before him hadn't understood the first half of his speech at all). Concentration on keenly listening to the Kyuubi's words passed into thoughtful pondering, then quickly metamorphed into revelation, before finally changing into horror. The fox had to recoil at that last expression. **"That is right, gaki. I, the Kyuubi no Kitsune, am sealed into you, Uzumaki Naruto."**

**---**

Itachi stood guard over the young boy, who was sleeping peacefully in the gurney. Naruto had had a few fits when first brought in, but had since relaxed, but for his fists clenched tightly holding the bedsheets (the bright teal color only serving to echo the aura of sterilization a hospital room always had) around him. When he had first brought Naruto into the ANBU compound, his wounds had already been healing and one of the medics on duty helped accelerate the process. Physically, he was almost completely in perfect shape (asides from malnutrition), but it was his mental condition that Itachi was worried about. Apparently he had gone into shock during his beating from loss of blood and pain, something that was unfathomable for anybody with a bijuu-reinforced ability to hang onto life, only hammering in how horrifying the situation must have been. He had since slipped out of shock but instead went straight into a coma. The medic reassured him that it was a light coma, so he should be coming out of it soon.

The stoic-faced ANBU just stood there looking outside the window, with several different tangents of thoughts running through his head. He grimaced, and put back on his weasel mask to hide the emotions that were beginning to crack his own personal mask. Picking out one line of thinking, he realised he was angry at the village itself. While he was as loyal to Konoha as one could be, he could not help but wonder what the point was, when the people who resided in it were scum that would beat up a helpless five-year-old boy. Snapping out of a mindset that could only lead to treacherous desires, he craned his head to look back at the fair-haired boy, still retaining anger at the villagers and shinobi. How could they not realise the boy was not the demon, but only its container? Had it not occurred to him that if he were the demon reincarnated, they would have been dead within seconds of laying their dirty fingers on him? At times like this, Itachi was surprised that he hadn't yet snapped and slaughtered any of the mobs that he had to rescue Naruto from, and it impressed him even more that Naruto had not tried fighting back, considering he was the target of all those mobs. An involuntary shudder caught Itachi by surprise, as he realised that if Naruto ever became a ninja (and wasn't being actively sabotaged along the way by whoever taught him) his unbreakable spirit would probably allow him to become one of the greatest shinobi to ever walk amongst the Elemental Nations.

The opening of the door caught Itachi's attention, his eyes narrowing as he recognized the chakra signature before the visitor walked in. Standing there in robes denoting his position was the Sandaime Hokage, coming to check on Naruto. The Third looked at the jinchuuriki briefly before looking up at Itachi. Itachi stared back at him. Sarutobi didn't need to see anything beyond Itachi's onyx eyes to know that an argument was going to come up again over allowing Itachi to train Naruto in the basics of stealth and chakra control.

---

Naruto was shocked by this revelation. So that was why the villagers hated him so. Anger boiled his blood once again; the villagers treated him miserably because of his prisoner, ignoring that he was only the prison. That the fox was a separate presence in his mind talking to him only proved this point. Naruto suddenly realised he was letting his emotions getting the best of him, so he took a deep breath, calmed himself, and then gave a short bow to the great beast before him; even if what the Kyuubi said was true and he was unable to touch Naruto, it still would not do to piss off the nine-tailed demon fox, and keeping him on his good side was best. Copying the mannerisms that he had seen of some shinobi in the presence of the Hokage, he kept his bow and stated "Thank you, Kyuubi-dono." It was the first sentence that he had managed to get out without butchering its form. Hopefully that show of respect would appease the giant vulpine. He didn't cry, however. Crying would only show weakness, and it wasn't as if he hadn't already been dealt a bad hand in life.

---

The Kyuubi looked at the small boy bowing before him. He thought about the situation that he was currently in as a result of his being sealed five years ago. While he would much rather be free again, he knew that this wouldn't occur unless his container willingly undid the seal that bound the two together, which would kill the boy in the process, so he threw that thought process out. If he died, he died. He hadn't been to hell for awhile, but it would be nice to catch up with old friends there (as much of friends as demons can be with each other) for awhile before breaking free into the mortal realm after a couple of centuries of regaining power. To be fairly honest, he was bored of random mass destruction. Perhaps seeing the world from the eyes of a human would provide a stimulating experience.

Yes, he thought. He was one of the nine great tailed demons, the greatest of them all. Perhaps he could recoup something out of this as well. He recalled visiting the human that that fool Hachibi had gotten sealed into a year before he himself got sealed away. That experience had been...interesting, to say the least (he had taken to remembering some of the self-dubbed Killer Bee's rhymes so that he could use them to annoy other demons when he met up with them again), but Hachibi's vessel was also a competent ninja. A very competent ninja, at that; it was said that he was the third-strongest ninja in Kumogakure at the time, next to his own brother, and the then Raikage. If Hachibi could create such a (figurative) monster, why couldn't he?

It was right then and there that the king of kitsunes decided that he would train his vessel from now on. He would nudge his vessel to partaking in the shinobi ways (if he wasn't already so inclined) and see to it that this young boy known as Uzumaki Naruto would become a feared and respected name. With luck, he might even become the strongest man to walk the lands. That would be an ego booster.

But the Kyuubi wasn't doing this solely for a matter of his own pride. He had taken a glance through some of the boy's memories where he could. The nine-tailed fox wasn't truly evil, but he wasn't really good either. He just did whatever the hell he felt like, and usually that leaned towards destroying stuff. But he also had his own code of honor, much like every demon did, and the horrifying acts that he saw being committed to his vessel sparked a twinge of guilt in him. _He_ was the cause of this boy's misery, and damn if he wouldn't at least make up for it somewhat. A demon would never kill a demon child under any circumstance, owing to the rarity of offsprings amongst demonkind. While his vessel was hardly a demon, to him the point stood (more so than the human children he slaughtered during his rampage).

And lastly, he had realized that the brat was the son of the Yondaime Hokage, even if the boy didn't know it himself. Although he hated the man, he also respected him for sacrificing himself to save his village and condemning himself to the Shinigami's stomach for eternity. For a demon, respect runs deeper than hatred, so while he was along for the ride, hopefully he would see the five-year-old jinchuuriki exhibit the same traits that had made his father an exemplary example of man. He made his decision right there and then.

"**So tell me, gaki, now that you know I am here, what next?"** Kyuubi prompted, hoping to lead the boy to the notion he wanted him to. It took him a few moments to realize the blank look on Naruto's face wasn't one of contemplation, but of not being able to understand what he was asking. That brought a frown to the fox's face; clearly, either his vessel was retarded or he had reverted to primal instincts and had a difficult time understanding concepts. Suddenly, he had a bright idea; slowly, a red tendril of yokoi extended from the kitsune's head over to Naruto's body, creating a mental link. This link would allow him to pass on the _idea_ behind his thoughts, without any need for words. To his glee, the boy was able to comprehend this, only to frown. Naruto's thoughts wallowed in self-pity and guilt, and it took all of his restraint not to growl. The villagers clearly had done a great amount of damage if the boy was becoming despondent and wishing to die because he thought he deserved the beatings, physical and verbal, that they gave him. Because he thought he was a demon. To this the Kyuubi _did_ growl, but he steadied himself and forced feelings of calmness into the mental link. This had the effect of causing the boy's breathing to slow down and regulate itself, his skin colour return to normal, and his sweating to subside. What had they _done_?! The boy's mental faculties were obviously underdeveloped for one his age, and he would have to work hard to fix that problem.

Finally, he managed to get a coherent response out of Naruto. He wanted to be able to run away from the mobs that chased him, and stealthily evade people before they coagulated together for a common cause. How interesting, the Kyuubi mused. He didn't want to get revenge or be able to defend himself, but rather to avoid hostility altogether so he wouldn't have to hurt anyone. But he needed more than that to push him on. Using the mental link to take a glance at Naruto's overlying mentality, he found only a few people that Naruto cared for, but those few he did he adored with an absoluteness that could only be envied. One of them he recognized as being the retired Hokage, but the other two seemed to be common civilians. He disliked prodding Naruto along, but he would have to use this as bait. He passed along a mental concept; if Naruto did not get strong enough, then those who would try to hurt him would hurt them by proxy if they couldn't get to him.

Visible rage planted itself onto the boy's body as he began to tremble. He didn't want Teuchi and Ayame to suffer just because people couldn't get over the Kyuubi attack. With newfound conviction, he looked up at the giant demon fox towering over him, separated only by bars and a seal. "How?"

Become a ninja, was the thought the nine-tailed kitsune gave to him. Ninjas could manipulate a form of energy that could do many things, such as create a wall of earth, heal wounds, cast illusions or allow him to walk up walls. Naruto took the time to mull over it, but it didn't take long. If it would help him protect two of the only three people who had ever visibly cared about him (he was at least able to understand that his jiji was able to defend himself against most anything) then he would do it.

Happy that his vessel was complying with his own wishes, the Kyuubi finally sent a final nudge through the mental link; would Naruto allow him to implant some of his own memories that would allow him to be able to understand the language of words, and be able to read, write, and talk at a fourteen-year-old's level. What the Kyuubi didn't say was that he _needed_ permission to do such a thing, but he ignored passing that along for now. Thankfully, Naruto nodded, the gesture being one of the only non-malicious gestures he had learned in his five years.

The red line suddenly surged as massive amounts of chakra was pumped through it over the period of a few seconds, the flow providing a hypnotic sight as it looked much akin to a vibrating string. It ended just as suddenly, and the Kyuubi quickly cut off the mental link as his container's mindscape avatar began to shake. It was a side-effect of what he had just done; the brain was working overtime to take in all the new information .

---

The Sandaime Hokage was contemplating over what Itachi had outlined as to what he wanted to do. This final brutal attack today had shown him that there was a part of Konoha that would never let go of their obsessive hatred of the Kyuubi and by proxy its container. He had hoped originally that Naruto would be treated as a hero just like the Yondaime wanted him to. When that had failed, he passed the law making the information an S-class state secret, and hoped that the pain and sorrow from the Kyuubi would fade from the older generation and the younger generation wouldn't be biased against Naruto, but the best laid plans of a man can collapse the instant he starts to enact them. Unfortunately, that was exactly what had occurred in this case, as people disregarded the Yondaime's final wish and used Naruto as a proxy, an outlet for their frustrations and pain from the Kyuubi attack.

He himself had been over fifty when he was forced back into the Hokage position after the Yondaime's death. With a few years of relaxation, he had been rusty, and with all the paperwork and diplomacy that had to be done in the fallout of the attack, he had gotten lax and lenient, allowing his old teammates, Danzo, and the councils to sap far too much power from the Hokage's office. While he still held a great amount of authority, when it came to Naruto, most of the shinobi under his command disregarded that authority.

A moan interrupted the sigh that he was about to let out, and both him and Itachi looked over to the source of the noise to see a Naruto who had emerged from his formerly motionless state. They looked at each other as a flash of worry passed between their eyes, and Itachi went out to call a doctor. Yes, Sarutobi mused, perhaps it would be best if he could have Naruto smuggled out and taught how to defend himself until he could one day come back capable of evading his predators.

---

For Naruto, pain had been a constant in his life, but this was something foreign to him. He was used to physical and verbal beatings, but this was different. The sheer influx of knowledge had caused an overload on his brain, and his head felt an intense pressure as neurons struggled to cope, each of them sending a signal to another neuron, then collecting sodium and potassium mineral it let out before repeating the process another two milliseconds later. The whole process took roughly thirty seconds, but it felt like an eternity.

When it ended, there was a brief moment in which his mind blanked, before he had an awakening of sorts to his mindscape. While there was still the giant nine-tailed kitsune residing behind the gates in a giant sewer, it was no longer quiet so dreary. The water that had been flowing along the sewer floors had retreated a few inches, and the darkness had subsided, as his surroundings had become brighter to the point of mere dimness. Even better, he could now read the single kanji that was displayed on the paper that held down the door – it read 'Seal'.

It took a few more seconds for his new knowledge to catch up with the rest of his state of mind, and he was astounded at just how much he had missed out on while growing up. He marvelled as he was able to put words to ideas and concepts. For example, he was in his 'mindscape'. Behind those 'bars' that acted as a 'prison', stood a giant animal known as a fox, or more accurately, a kitsune, but there was little enough difference as far as he was concerned that he imagined he would constantly be interchanging the terms in reference to his prisoner. However, he was still ignorant, so when he opened his mouth to speak, all he could say was "Woah".

The demon fox laughed.

Naruto tried to reason that laugh out in his head. It wasn't a deep laugh, so he wouldn't call it a bellow. It was of a good nature, not so obnoxious he would call it a giggle, but well-meaning enough to call it a chuckle. Yes, he would call it a chuckle, and it made him feel warm inside to finally find a fourth person who didn't hate him with a passion.

He mentioned as much to the kitsune, who immediately sobered up at the thought of the villagers. He chose his words carefully so as to elicit an honest response from his jailer. **"Well, gaki, now that you know I am here, there are some things that you can do. Do you hate this village for how they have treated you? Do you hate it enough that you want to destroy it?"**

Now, Naruto may have been five, but he has seen and experienced more than enough in his life that he wouldn't care to live much longer of it if it weren't for the survival instincts that every human being has (moreso for a jinchuuriki, who no matter how strong the seal that contains their demon will always be influenced by the demon's underlying need to live after millennia of immortality). He was also empathetic enough that he wouldn't wish the hell that was his life on anyone, so he shook his head. "I'll be the first to admit that I hate everyone for what they've done for me. After all, here I am talking to you, so obviously I'm not you, but they still take it out on me. But," and here Kyuubi made a motion that seemed like he was leaning in closer to listen to the young vessel, "I wouldn't want anybody to live through what I've been. Beatings, multiple attempted killings, torture, and being made to feel insignificant. If I were to destroy this village, there would be repercussions that could lead to others having similar lives to what I've been through. No more, _please_!"

The fox just sighed. So much for completing his attack on Konoha, even if it wasn't one that he willingly started. Besides, this child made _such_ a good plea and argument. It was then that he finally took a close look at Naruto. Noting the blond hair and blue eyes, he filed that information away for later, and finally got down to business. **"In that case, gaki, how about this? I have already informed you of the pros of being a ninja, and you want to do it so that the few people whom have actually given a damn about you will not come to harm as a result of their association with you. However, you can also add to the list gaining strength enough so others do not have to live the same way as you did."**

"**As for how we would go about that, the main thing I can do in the matter is train you. I may be a demon, but that does not mean I am always in my fox form. During my tens of thousands of years in this realm of mortals, I have infiltrated many societies and gathered more than enough knowledge to keep you covered. Much of what I can teach you is knowledge that has long since been destroyed by human hands, and you can use that to your advantage. Additionally, you will have to eventually socialize with other people and quite possibly other demons as well, and I can impart on you some measure of social skills. We kitsunes are known for being trickers, we are cunning, and we love challenges and puzzles, so you could stand to benefit there as well."**

"**Finally, there is the matter of the seal that was used to contain me in you. As I have already mentioned, there is a form of energy that you can use to perform all the tricks of the trade of a ninja, called chakra. I am a bijuu, one of nine demons that are for all practical purposes manifestations of pure chakra. I will go into detail on that later, but suffice to say that I have infinite chakra."** At this point, Naruto was beginning to be overwhelmed with all the possibilities he had. Here he was, practically being offered the chance to become possibly the most powerful human in the world, but had to snap his attention back to the talking kitsune. **"However, due to the manner in which I was sealed, I no longer have infinite chakra. Instead, every day since you were born, my chakra has, in a sense, 'pushed' against your own chakra. Human beings are capable of increasing the amount of chakra that their body can generate over a lifetime, but the most convenient method is to constantly be using large amounts of chakra. That way your chakra coils can increase in size, and your body knows to create more to be able to keep up with day-to-day use. As I said before, my chakra pushed against yours, so your body has had to constantly keep up. This has had the effect of you having as much chakra as if you had been training non-stop to about three-fifths of your maximum capacity every day since you were born. Additionally, the seal also converts some of my chakra to human chakra for your own use. At the rate it acts, after about every seven years you will have absorbed a full tail from me."**

At this, the Kyuubi finally stopped and let Naruto think it over. As an ancient demon, one that had been powerful enough to nearly obliterate Konoha and take it off the map, the Kyuubi would make the perfect sensei. But there was that problem of nearly taking out the entirety of Konoha; hence, narrowing his eyes at the mammoth fox before him, he objected with his concerns. "You might be the perfect sensei, but there is a matter of problems with trust here. And besides that, what's in it for you?"

The Kyuubi knew exactly what he was talking about, and a grin of pleasure lit his snout. His container might be ignorant, but at least he wasn't stupid, or this would have been a lot more difficult for him. **"Hai, indeed there is. Suffice to say, it was not my choice to attack Konoha. I was paralyzed and tricked into attacking Konoha by somebody who managed to exploit my state of bloodlust, wherein I simply cannot control myself."** Seeing Naruto begin to speak up, he cut him off before he could get a chance to start, **"I should hope you have enough tact to not ask about the specific details, and hai, I CAN be defeated, or else I would not have been sealed in a fleshbag of a mortal."** That caused Naruto to twitch at the insult, but he calmed himself down to listen some more. **"The one who sealed me summoned the Death God at the cost of his own life to seal me away. The Shinigami is above me on the hierarchy of greater beings, and he used enough of his own power to seal me away. However, the Shinigami is lazy."** At this point in time, one could practically see the figurative sweatdrop rolling from Naruto's forehead. **"Well, not really lazy. Usually, the jutsu that the Yondaime used would have killed me, but that fleshbag was smart; he realized the possibility that even death could not contain me, which was a possibility. Instead , he used the Shinigami`s power to seal me away. There was one problem with it though: the amount of power that the Shinigami used on your seal was not absolute: instead, the amount of power that enforces it is proportional to the sacrifice made by the Yondaime. In effect, the seal only has enough power to hold completely for fourteen years, after which it will begin to wear out."**

Pausing, he saw the panic cross Naruto's face. He knew that there was going to be a big reaction coming soon, so he tried to nip the rose in the bud before it had the chance to sprout. **"CALM DOWN!"** He roared, with just a slight bit of his killing intent behind it to shake away Naruto's would-be protest. **"Either way, I WILL be free, whether you like it or not, but my only goal when I get free is to hunt down the one who forced me into attacking Konoha. Other than that, you need not fear me doing anything to interrupt your own goals."**

"**That brings me to the next issue. In nine more years, the seal that keeps me in you will quickly dissolve, and the only thing that can slow the process down will be the strength of your willpower. At your best, I figure you could probably hold it for another ten years, but at worst, I would burst out immediately. Thankfully for me, there are no other effects of the seal that will really have the power to harm me after that. For you, however, your body is used to my demonic chakra that pulses through your body. If I leave, then you will lose the source of that demonic chakra, and unless you go through a certain process, you will die shortly thereafter. For my part, I do not care for the guilt of letting you die, especially after what you have gone through in your life. Demons would not do what those people did to you; we consider children the most precious thing of all. So you either accept when we get to that part or you die."**

Seeing Naruto nod numbly at his proclamation, he then proceeded to talk again. **"Now, as for why I would teach you, there are a few reasons. First and foremost is that until I get free, if you die before you are fourteen, I die. You have probably wanted to kill yourself more than a few times, but the sheer desire of mine to live would have overwhelmed your suicidal notions, no matter whether I was sleeping or not. Therefore, I will do everything in my power to keep you from dying, so the more able you are to protect yourself, the better, and I doubt there are many of those pitiful ningens who would willingly teach you, so I would have to do it myself."**

"**The second reason is pride. We demons constantly look to one-up each other, so if I were to make you the most powerful human alive, that would reflect well on me. I do not intend to have a weak vessel, or else I would be the laughingstock of the entirety of Makai, something I am not keen on witnessing. Is that clear?"**

By this time, Naruto was sitting on the ground, in a cowering position, his arms tucked underneath his legs. Even so, he still had his head facing the Kyuubi, and there was still a strong hint of defiance in his cerulean eyes. The ancient demon fox took that defiance for a yes. **"Good, then, good. Now, there is an immediate situation that we need to turn to our advantage. We are in your mindscape, yes, but time is also passing on the outside. The one that you think of as your old man is a powerful figure with much authority, and he is currently standing right next to you, waiting for you to wake up. There are two other figures as well, one whose chakra seems like that wretched Uchiha clan, but different in a manner. I think you can probably keep him around as well for what I want you to do. The third figure seems to be a doctor of sorts, as I can sense some medical chakra emanating from his body. Ask him to be sent away, ask for privacy in the room, then tell the Uchiha that I want to talk to the both of them." **Seeing Naruto's questioning glance at that last order, he added on, **"The Uchiha have a doujutsu that allows them to penetrate to a degree into one's mindscape, and he can bring the Hokage in with him. I can force time to be slower in here than on the outside, plus it acts as another security measure, and then I can talk to all three at once. Understood?"**

Naruto took a minute to absorb the instructions, rolled it around in his head, then responded, "Hai, Kyuubi-dono." It may be true that the Kyuubi was imprisoned right now, and he could kill the Kyuubi sometimes within the next seven years by taking his own life, but you still don't piss off a demon lord, so he tried his best to keep his respect.

The Kyuubi just let another demonic grin light his face. This might not be too bad, and he might even get another loyal half-demon out of the deal. **"In that case, it is time for you to wake up."**

**---**

The smell of sterility was the first thing that caught Naruto's attention as he woke up. Second was the intense bright flare that attacked his eyes as he tried opening up his eyelids, before tightening them shut. Opening them more slowly, he noticed the plain white of his room, before his view was dominated by one Hiruzen Sarutobi. His first reaction was to sit up, shouting "Oji-san!" at the same time. While he managed to say what he wanted, he had to stutter it out as his focus was shattered from the pains that shot up his back and arms as he tried to use them for leverage.

Sarutobi was glad to see that Naruto was still enthusiastic even after a beating (on his _birthday_ for crying out loud, something which stabbed him in the heart with guilt for his failings), but involuntarily flinched when he saw that the enthusiasm didn't quite reach his sea-blue eyes. No matter, hopefully it was something that he could resolve while he was here.

He didn't expect what came next. Naruto quickly understood that his back wasn't healed, so he leaned back on his bed, though he made the curious gesture of crossing his arms over the chest. It was Naruto's request that he was unprepared for. "Oji-san, I need to talk to you." Seeing the doctor standing near the door, he added, "In private." It took the request a second to be processed in Sarutobi's head. Seeing no harm in it, he nodded towards the doctor to leave, but was surprised when Naruto added "The mask guy should stay though." How had he detected Itachi? No matter, Sarutobi mused, he might've just had a sixth sense for that sort of thing. It wouldn't have been too surprising for one of his heritage.

With the doctor out of the room, the Hokage performed a few hand seals that blocked off all sound from entering or exiting the room. He couldn't really see any need for complete privacy, but after decades as the Hokage, where he often had to handle confidential information and S-Class to SSS-Class state secrets, he did it entirely out of instinct from being asked for privacy.

"After those villagers beat me up, I talked to _him_."

The emphasis that Naruto placed on that last word was all that was needed for Sarutobi to instantly freeze up, and for Itachi in the corner to tense up. Walls came crashing down in Sarutobi's mind, as he had realized just who Naruto was talking about. Hoping against hope for Naruto to be talking about someone else, he tried playing dumb, and asked "Why Naruto, who are you talking about?" It then suddenly occurred to him – Naruto could _talk_ beyond the most basic one-syllable words, and he wasn't slowly drawling trying to think of the next word in his sentence. His heart sank as his false hope was crushed.

"Don't play dumb with me, oji-san!" A scowl echoed itself from Naruto's face across his eyes and eyebrows. "You know who I'm talking about. I'm talking about the fox!" So it was true. His heart raced a thousand beats a minute trying quickly to come up with a solution to the situation, but Naruto quickly put an end to any efforts to change the direction of the conversation. "Anyway, he wants to talk to you. Both of you. I don't know why he wants to talk to the mask guy, but I think he said something about Shore-in-gan and using it to access one's mindscape and being able to share use of it."

If Sarutobi had ever stopped to think about it, he would've burst out laughing at his visualizations of what Itachi Uchiha's face looked like at that moment in time. The most powerful non-divine being in existence, capable of striking fear into men's hearts by its mere _name_ wanted to _talk to him_?! Screw the Uchiha stoicness, there was no way he could say anything for at least the next minute without tripping over his tongue, and it took twice as long to regain his composure.

Sarutobi narrowed his eyes, then took a deep breath in, and a deep breath out. "So he finally talked to you, did he now?" A nod. "And he wants to meet us?" Another nod. He forced himself into another breath, before sighing at the whole situation. There simply wasn't anything else he could do, no matter how much he wanted to get away from it. But he was a leader, and he had promised Minato to carry out his wish, and he wasn't going to disappoint him by leaving his Legacy out in the dark like this. "Very well then. Itachi," he said, catching the ANBU's attention, "Do you know what he's talking about in regards to accessing one's mindscape?"

Itachi, who had since abandoned any pretence of hiding in the corner, quickly bobbed his head, plotting out each sentence word by word in his head before daring to speak. "That I do, Hokage-sama. But if I may ask, are you sure? Can we really trust a demon?"

Sarutobi's head creased, a sign of his age and the stress of the job catching up with him. "No, we most certainly cannot trust the demon, but with the seal as it is, we can at least find some semblance of answers that I have always wanted to have. Kitsunes don't lie, but they will twist the meanings of their words around until you can't distinguish heads from tails, so be on your guard. Now, about that mind-access technique?"

Itachi bowed, not really liking what he was going to have to do, but doing it anyways. Grabbing a hold of the Hokage's hand, he activated his Sharingan eyes, the three tomoe in each red iris swirling around their respective pupils wildly, before darkness descended upon their consciousnesses.

---

It was slightly disorienting for Naruto to be reentering his mindscape, and he could only hope that side effect would fade away over time, as he imagined he would be doing this quite a few times in the future. Fortunately for him and his two guests, this time their avatars started out inside the giant room that housed the fox, as opposed to the end of the sewers that he originally started out. Naruto didn't have much time to ponder about it, though, because as soon as all four figures were in the area, he instantly poofed out of existence, leaving not even a trail of smoke behind.

Forgetting himself for the briefest of moments, Sarutobi looked over at the giant demon fox beside the cage and said, "What the hell was that for?" As soon as he finished his sentence, he immediately realized just _who_ (making sure to differentiate from the term 'what' in his head) he was talking to. No matter, the Kyuubi was caged by the **Shiki Fūjin, **though he would need to be respectful to at least prod some knowledge out of the Kyuubi.

For his own part, the demon in question didn't seem to be disturbed, as he reared and rolled his eyes. It was an oddly human gesture to the two humans in the chamber, but they didn't let it affect them as the Kyuubi spoke, **"There are some things that I will probably end up speaking of that that child need not know of."** For Naruto, because the Kyuubi was a part of his mindscape, there were side effects that changed the manner in which he experienced Kyuubi's presence. To him, the giant fox's voice didn't seem too deep, or too loud, or anything out-of-place. To the two foreigners, however, they had to discipline themselves to keep steady underneath the deep, baritone tone that the Kyuubi's voice exhibited. This intimidation factor was all the better for the Kyuubi – while Naruto may have favoured the Sandaime Hokage as one of his precious people, Sarutobi still had obligations to the rest of Konoha, and he had been far too ineffective at times for the kitsune's liking. For now, however, he would bait them in with information. **"First and foremost, you probably want to know why I attacked Konoha five years ago."** That got their attention, as what seemed to be irreverent focus before only increased as two pairs of eyes bore into his own, doing their best to get him to speak fast. **"But before I do, I suppose I should comfort you over the possibility of me lying about anything; I swear everything I henceforth say here is truthful on my honour as the Kitsune lord." **Sarutobi let out a small breath at this proclamation here; before, he was going to peruse every word the nine-tailed demon said with distrust, but now he could drop his guard a little bit; although he was no expert on demonology, he knew well enough that no demon would break his or her word if they could help it.**"As you may know, your Shodai Hokage had a bloodline ability that allowed him to, in a sense, calm the bijuus' yokai." **He paused for a second, gauging the best moment for dramatic effect, **"However, the Uchiha clan's **_**filthy**_** Sharingan is, at its highest level, capable of controlling me, specifically."**

The Kyuubi finally looked down directly at the Hokage and the teenage Uchiha, letting his gaze rest on them. He let go of the inhibitions he held on his presence, and the two had to rely on sheer will to not stagger underneath the full power of his aura. **"I will not go into the specifics of how the Sharingan has that much power; it is a little bit of an embarrassment to me. What you do need to know is this: Uchiha Madara is a thrice-damned traitor as far as Konoha should be occurred. First, he betrayed your pathetic village. Second, he called on my power to fight your Shodai Hokage, causing the landscape to change in the process. And finally, **_**he**_** was the one whom forced me into attacking five years ago."**

This finally elicited a response from his audience, and the Uchiha protested, "But how can that be? Madara was said to be dead when he fought Hashirama Senju at the Valley of the End. Even if he did manage to survive that battle, he would be over ninety years old by now."

"**That is true,"** the demon fox admitted. **"However, for all intents and purposes, Madara appears to be immortal. How that came to be, even I, with my millennia of knowledge, do not know." **He paused, recollecting his thoughts as he remembered the purpose as to why they were all here. **"Your Hokage knows that as a demon, I cannot lie, so be assured that what I have just said is the unbridled truth. That is why I sent the gaki away, as I do not believe he should hear about this until he is at least somewhat older."** A nod from Sarutobi signified the unspoken acceptance of that argument, and the nine-tailed being continued to dominate the conversation, **"Aside from that, we needed to have a little...chat, Sandaime Hokage."**

The Third clearly flinched at the icy tone behind the vulpine's last sentence, but kept his composure, something he had found himself struggling with so far, "And just what would that be, oh great Kyuubi-san?" OK, maybe he had to reinforce his posture with sarcasm.

Kyuubi decided to ignore the sarcasm, mainly so as to not antagonize his audience. **"It has to do with the treatment of the gaki in this village. If it were not for the trauma inflicted upon him in this latest incident, I would not have awoken, and he would continue to have been ignorant for a few more years. It is fortunate however that this has occurred so quickly. After all,"** and here he hissed and sneered at Itachi and Sarutobi to emphasise his point, **"It would not do good for Konoha if he were to die prematurely or lose the will to live and allow me to escape, would it now?"** Now _that_ got the attention of the ANBU captain and the Hokage, as they both visibly whitened at the thought of an unleashed Kyuubi with the village still recovering. **"For as much of a genius your Yondaime was at sealing, which I have to admit my respect for, even he could not create a seal that would put me in a human vessel that did not require at least some semblance of willpower to keep me in."**

The two standing before him exchanged glances to give mutual support. Seeing their rational sides losing out, he decided to tone down the potency of his aura, and continued, **"Relax, I will not attack Konoha, if I have a **_**conscious choice**_** to the matter." **Seeing the questioning looks they gave him, he clarified, **"I have examined the seal that your Yondaime Hokage used in combination with the **Shiki Fuin, **the** Hakke no Fūin Shiki. **Again, a genius piece of art. It apparently will purify some of my chakra over time which will then be absorbed into the boy, to the tune of approximately one tail every seven years. If the boy should die when I have seven tails or less, I will be able to control my chakra. If he dies before then, however, I will not be able to control my chakra, and my mere being will explode all at once, which includes all nine tails."**

Silence reigned throughout the chamber, asides from the occasional drip from the pipes and walls. It was after a long period of contemplation that the Sandaime Hokage spoke up, "Well, Itachi, I think you will get your wish now. However, it won't be as minimalist as you wanted."

"Hokage-sama?" Itachi spoke up for the first time in what felt like whatever, disoriented from the influx of knowledge he had just heard, and sickened at the prospect of what could've occurred every time somebody got it into their head that they needed to kill the Kyuubi gaki, Uzumaki Naruto. They could've taken out the entirety of Konoha, and depending on just how large the blast radius would have been, possibly most of Hi no Kuni, and disrupting the border countries of Ta no Kuni and Kawa no Kuni. Any of the tailed beasts had tremendous amounts of power, but the nine-tailed fox was the most powerful of them all, said to have infinite chakra, and to have it all expelled at once could disrupt the entire balance of the world order and lead to war.

"Uchiha Itachi, Weasel, Captain of the ANBU Black Ops, effective when we leave this mindscape, you will leave your regular assignment. Thereafter, once he is finished healing, you will take Uzumaki Naruto to Training Ground 46 and train him over a period of two years." Looking up towards the giant demon fox, he continued, "Don't think I didn't find it odd that Naruto could speak with such clairvoyance, Kyuubi-san. As long as you don't try turning Naruto against Konohagakure and don't cause harm to him, I have no problem with you teaching whatever it is you wish."

The demon fox displayed that creepy grin that one could only see on a forty-story-tall crimson fox, a leer of sorts. **"Oh, have no worries , I have plenty that I can teach him. However, there is plenty of knowledge that I did not find necessary to learn during my romps amongst ningens, most importantly any form of taijutsu or simple physical movement. And of course, I cannot exactly get him to eat healthily, thanks to all those grocers throwing him out of their stores. However, the Uchiha is more than welcome to come back into my jailer's mindscape here, as I can slow things down in here to make the passage of time on the outside almost negligible."** It was with a start that the Kyuubi remembered just _what_ clan Itachi had come from, so he took the time to take a pointed glaze at Itachi. **"That reminds me. Have you heard of the Mangekyo Sharingan?"**

The grim look that took over Itachi's face was enough confirmation for the nine-tailed kitsune. **"Do not be so despondent, young Uchiha. I can tell you may be a great influence on the Uchiha clan. Never forget, all bloodlines came from demonic influence, and it was **_**I**_** who molded the Sharingan." **Disturbingly enough for the two whom have been forced to listen to the nine-tailed's musings, he seemed almost _tired_. **"All Uchiha have a sinister quality to their chakra as a result of my own influence, but the sinister quality in yours is the weakest I've ever seen. You and Madara are opposites in that way,"** and here he positively growled loud enough to demonstrate his hatred towards the Uchiha ancestor, **"In fact, I would say Madara's chakra is more sinister than my own."**

The Kyuubi finally took one last gaze specifically on the weasel, **"If you can train my vessel well enough, and should you ever achieve the state of the Mangekyo Sharingan, I can gift you with something that will enhance those eyes of yours. Mind you, that is **_**if**_** you do your job in training that gaki."**

At that, Itachi finally butted into the conversation, "That's all fine and well, Kyuubi-san, Hokage-sama, but surely there will be _some_ missions that you will need to send me on? I cannot imagine that you can afford to have me living with the boy twenty-four-seven for a few years without something coming up requiring my expertise."

It was a good point, the Hokage thought. He took out his pipe and lit it up, taking a deep whiff of the smoke from the clover leaves before exhaling. That was the nice thing about the mindscape. You could get the pleasure and stress-release without having the physical drawback actually occurring. Contemplating, he came up with a solution, "I know a fairly talented teacher who has recently retired from the Academy and been promoted to Tokubetsu Jonin. He's not nearly as talented as you are in genjutsu or ninjutsu, Itachi (to which the person in question just snorted; after all, he put in a great amount of dedication to mastering every jutsu he came across, knowing every quirk of a technique and how to best apply it to a situation rather than straight-up attacking), but he's excellent at laying a foundation for the basics, good at chakra control and decent at nature manipulation, and can also teach Naruto some more _recent_ history," he said, making a subtle jab at the Kyuubi, who he imagined as knowing history about civilizations five thousand years past but not bothering to learn much if anything about the past hundred years and the emergence of the Hidden Villages. "His name is Ebisu, and although he doesn't hold any dislike towards Naruto for being a jinchuuriki, he's easily impressionable, so it would be good for him to see the real deal before hearing the lies. "

The Kyuubi no Kitsune realised that the Sandaime was trying to wrap up the conversation on his own part, but there was one thing that he needed to talk to the Hokage about in private, away from even the ears of the Uchiha. **"Hokage, you should stick around. I need to talk to you in private after this in a matter that doesn't involve the Uchiha."**

The Hokage's eyes narrowed, wondering what the great demon lord had in mind that needed truly private discussion, while Itachi stayed stoic-faced, although he was no less curious. "I will need to secure something in the outside world, so for now I will take your leave. Have no fear, I have my own method of getting into young Naruto's mindscape. Itachi, choose your words carefully. Kyuubi-san here may not have been responsible for the attack on Konoha, but he has no reason for loyalty or allegiance to Konoha." A blink later, he flicked out of existence, exiting the mindscape.

For his part, the Kyuubi let out a short bellow. **"How right that he is. But it is in my interests to have a capable vessel, and fortunately for Konoha, he does not want to destroy it, so I will not push him in that direction, but that does not mean I will allow him to take the crap that he does have to deal with almost daily."**

Itachi just sighed. It wasn't everyday that you had a semi-casual conversation with an ancient demon lord. Unsure as to how to respond to that, he instead said, "That's nice and all, Kyuubi-san, but I would rather we not stray from the topic that we are supposed to discuss."

The fox decided to oblige the Uchiha, and both got down to business, with the demon sitting down on his rear end as if it were a fireside chat. With no words wasted and two genius minds between them they quickly came to the agreement in a surprisingly pleasant manner. The Kyuubi would teach Naruto in certain areas of knowledge (he did not believe that Naruto's mind could withstand another sheer transfer of knowledge like he had done earlier – he explained this to Itachi in heavy technical terms involving neuron and saturation of electrical signals) such as ancient history, jutsu theory (for with high chakra capacity and an ability to regenerate most wounds Naruto definitely could experiment more than most with creating new jutsus) and fuinjutsu, as well as imparting what he knew about jinchuuriki, the bijuu and demonic society, noting that someday Naruto might have to defend himself against either other jinchuuriki or demons, or fight off people wanting Kyuubi's power, and therefore it would be best to know all he could about demons. Lastly, he would teach him some methods of chakra control for yokai if he ever needed to use the demonic form of energy. For his own part, Itachi would mainly teach Naruto regular ninjutsu (he was a bit peeved when he realized that his new protégé would have a difficult time using genjutsu because he had two different chakra sources, but was pleased when it occurred to him that it also meant he could be all but immune to genjutsu used against him with practice).

The fox also requested that he not teach any specific taijutsu. Instead, Kyuubi wanted him to teach Naruto how to move his body and limbs with minimal exertion and maximum efficiency, noting that because of him, Naruto would never be able to adapt to any rigid style of fighting. Itachi didn't question him on it, but he gathered that the Kyuubi meant that Naruto would probably gain an insane amount of body flexibility and gracefulness. It was also with some pleasure that the ANBU captain realized that because of the regeneration factor of the Kyuubi's yokai, Naruto could increase his muscle mass dozens of times quicker than a normal human beings. Recalling the numerous broken bones he had seen the sun-haired boy obtain from various beatings over the year, Itachi also resolved to get an x-ray done of Naruto's skeletal structure to see if they were denser or larger than a normal person's bones.

Finally, they plotted out what they wanted Ebisu to do. Itachi had actually heard of him before, and knew that he had taught a couple of children of nobles before in addition to his tutoring of ninjas. With that knowledge in hand, they added how to act in society to the list of things they wanted Ebisu to do (though the fox would need to teach Naruto how to act around demons as well if it ever came to necessity). Pleased at the productive conversation, the fox sent Itachi out of the mindscape after reminding him to have Sarutobi come back in.

Time in Naruto's mindscape was different than on the outside. The Kyuubi estimated that he had talked with Itachi for about an hour, which was only about five minutes on the outside. Given that he had about twelve times the amount of time what it would take for the Sandaime to come back into the mindscape, he pondered over what he was about to discuss next with the wizened ruler.

A popping noise indicated the presence of the aged man. Not wanting to spend any more time around the demon lord than he had to, he asked quickly, "Now then, what is it exactly that you wanted to discuss in private, Kyuubi-san?"

"**It involves the gaki`s parents."**

THAT got a reaction out of the Third Hokage.

"I, I don't know what you're talking abou-" Sarutobi stuttered, then decided to throw any pretense of ignorance to the winds and interrupted himself, "OK, I suppose you already have a very strong suspicion of whom his father is, I'm guessing."

The Kyuubi was amused at how quickly his verbal opponent decided to give up the game, but decided not to press that point in his favour. **"I do not suspect, I **_**know**_** who the gaki's father is. It simply makes too much sense. A man whom would sacrifice his own eternal soul to save his village could not ask anyone else to offer up their child as a lamb, and I am fairly sure that that sunny-gold shade of blond and blue eyes is not very common in Konohagakure."**

The Hokage for his part just sighed in defeat, and asked what appeared to be the million-dollar question of the conversation, "Does Naruto know about this yet?" He prayed against all hope that the boy didn't. He wasn't sure if Naruto could take two mental shocks in one day, and he wasn't sure either if he could impress upon him strongly enough not to go around blabbing he was the son of the Yondaime Hokage.

Thankfully for him, the Kyuubi was on his side in regards to this issue. **"No, he most definitely does not. I feared just as much as you likely did what kind of mental instability could result from such an influx of surprises, and so I have withheld that knowledge from him. Even I do not know what the ramifications of mental instability could be between my presence and this seal, so I would rather not take my chances." **He paused, taking a deep breath, and then proceeded to talk again, **"But you will need to tell him soon, sometimes within the next five years if you want him to still trust you afterwards. I get the feeling you would have held off until he was at least a Genin before telling him about me, never mind the fact that my mere presence means his chakra control would have been shot and prevented him from becoming one, meaning he would not know about me until he pieced it together from all the words people throw at him, or worse, concluding that he WAS me." **Seeing that he had laid enough guilt on the Third Hokage, and feeling he had said his piece, he let the man think.

It was true what the Kyuubi had said, Sarutobi thought. If he waited on his own to tell Naruto about Kyuubi being sealed in him, he _would've_ waited until Naruto was at least a Genin. By this time, he wasn't sure how helpful the teachers at the academy would've been, and without chakra control, he likely would never pass the basic ninjutsu test, and the genin exam overall. But what was done was done, so he mulled over the situation and came to a decision. "Once Naruto serves in some sort of capacity as a ninja, official or not, I'll tell him of his heritage then. By that time, I can rely on his mentality being able to be stable, and by then Itachi and hopefully you will have beat out of him the capability to be arrogant over being a Hokage's son."

The Kyuubi chuckled over that last remark. It made sense, and he didn't want his vessel to gain any preconceived notions and become cocky and overestimate himself. **"In that case, I think we have a decision. Goodbye, Sandaime Hokage, and if you have any need to talk to me, feel free to do so." **Having made sure to keep on Hiruzen Sarutobi's good side and not bring any unnecessary ire down on him, he waited for the sexagenarian to exit before thinking about his new situation as a prisoner within a human boy and how to best turn the situation to his advantage.

---

It took the Sandaime a second to reorient himself and adjust to the surroundings of the hospital room. Looking around, he saw Itachi with his weasel mask back on, waiting for orders. He wasn't sure how long the fifteen-year-old had been waiting (as he too suspected that time in the mindscape could be slowed down relative to the real world), but he decided not to keep him waiting. Reaching into his robe pocket, he took out a wad of ryo bills. Counting out the amount to file down later as shinobi expenses, he handed it over to the ANBU captain, and explained, "Weasel-san, take this money and purchase whatever equipment you need to begin your lessons." He then idly remembered a comment that the Kyuubi had made earlier in their first conversation about Naruto's lack of food options. "You should also get whatever some groceries as well, as I can't imagine he's been able to get much of anything besides ramen, which isn't healthy, fox demon in his stomach or not. You have some sealing scrolls with you?" Receiving a nod from Itachi, he continued, "Very well then. The place I'm setting Naruto up with already has all the basics, but you might also want to get a cookbook as well unless you plan on having Ebisu teach him that as well. I'll leave it to you whether or not you think you should acquaint him with hunting wild animals though. For now, go obtain whatever is necessary, then report back to my office once you're finished for further orders."

Itachi bowed, with a short "Hai, Hokage-sama", before he Shunshined out of the room. The Hokage looked at the young boy resting in the bed. Those whisker marks always disturbed him whenever he saw them, a sign of the fox demon within him, but for once in the young boy's life, he might be able to see a light at the end of the dark tunnel. Brushing off his philosophical thoughts, and thinking Naruto would be asleep for at least a few hours and wouldn't need him in the meantime, the Hokage took the initiative from his ANBU captain and Shunshined a couple of times back to the Hokage Tower. Walking up to his office, he sighed seeing a new pile of paperwork that hadn't been there when he'd left a few hours before (though the experience made it felt like years).

Making a pair of Kage Bunshins to handle the paperwork, he sat down in a chair on the opposite side of the desk and took out the top paper from his sheaf from the Office of the Hokage and pen. With his wrinkled hand he wrote out his orders to Ebisu, as well as a few choice words on how he expected his behaviour to be in regards to Naruto, as well as how conflicting duties would be handled and his wage. Stamping the paper, he rolled it up and sealed it with an official seal, for Itachi to handle when he came back.

With that out of the way, the Hokage walked up to the four portraits on the wall, of his two predecessors, himself at a much earlier age, and his successor. Putting his thumb in his mouth, he bit down on the skin hard enough to draw blood, and smeared it across the top of his direct predecessor's odd hitai-ate (now that he thought about it, what _was_ it with the shape of the hitai-ate anyways?). The portrait of Tobirama Senju glowed momentarily as the seal that protected the safe behind it activated. The Hokage grabbed the right edge of the painting and pulled it back, revealing the left end to be a hinge in the wall, and exposing a small metal safe. Punching in a series of numbers that only four people alive knew, the safe door flipped open. There were a number of objects in the safe, but he quickly found what he so desired.

When the Senju Clan and Uchiha Clan originally united to build Konohagakure almost a century ago, Hashirama Senju put his ability to make trees from nothing as well as his more subtle manipulations of wood to good use. The foliage that surrounded the village was what gave it its designation as the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Many of the Leaf's training fields were also created thanks to the many jutsus that the Shodai Hokage came up with, but the most infamous one was Training Field #44, better known as the Forest of Death. The trees in this training field were of monstrous sizes that no flora would ever grow to by normal means, but that was what made it the Forest of Death: everything was super-sized there, from giant trees to giant man-eating plants to giant tigers. Because of the sheer amount of danger that one could find himself in by becoming lost in the forest, most _Jonin_ didn't go there, with Mitarashi Anko being the only common visitor (and it was rumoured that she had a cabin in the forest where she lived, though the Sandaime had never bothered to verify or disprove the rumours).

However, common thought says that as the Forest of Death is the last area to have a numerical designation, there are only fourty-four training areas in Konohagakure. Nothing could be further from the truth. In addition to the Hokage's own private training grounds, as well as a few areas exclusively for jonin-rank or higher, and ANBU-only fields, there is another set of six areas from Training Field #45 to Training Field #50 that very few know about. The reason so few know about them is not because they are dangerous (and in fact they are relatively tame), but because they are protected with dozens of seals that prevent people from wandering into them. A person could get close to a training field and then suddenly have an urge to go back whence the way they came from. Additionally, these training fields are not easy to find; they are all within ten to thirty kilometres west of the Hokage monument, and the dense forests Konoha is famous for blocks off each training ground; while one could still make it through the guardian forests, unless they know about the secret route through the trees for any particular area, it will be an arduous trek.

Hence, these six areas are truly private grounds, because the only way to get into them is to find a respective master seal and offer a drop of your blood onto this master seal, and you will be able to access the training ground from then on. The master seal wasn't anything fancy – it was simply a piece of paper with some seals on them which, once you put your blood on, would grant you immunity from all the seals that protected its respective training field. After a person was finished with using a field, his or her access could be wiped via use of the master seal.

There was a reason that they were forbidden to all but a select few. Each training field has a diverse environment, with trees, a river or small lake, a waterfall of varying size, and terrain ranging from grass to sand to barren soil to solid rock. All six of them are topped off by their own individual cabin, able to fit up to ten people each. In general, few were ever allowed access to these places. The only people any of the four Hokages to date had ever let in were either people of a particularly volatile status that needed maximum security, or somebody who it was felt required a private training ground without any intrusion. Tobirama Senju had once taken him and his old teammates Koharu and Homura to Training Ground #48 for a period of six months of intensive training shortly before the outbreak of the First Great Shinobi War, and they had come out of it for the better.

Now, however, the next long-term resident of Training Ground #46 would be there for _both_ reasons. Sarutobi didn't trust leaving Naruto around the village any longer, especially now that the demon fox Kyuubi had awoken from his slumber in Naruto's mindscape, and because the boy would need to train to be able to protect himself when he did come back from what was essentially an imposed exile. Additionally, while it wasn't the three hundred square kilometre size that the fabled Forest of Death was, Training Ground #46 was still fairly large, at over 50 square kilometres, and isolated, on the outskirts of Konoha west of the Hokage monument. It was with a sigh that, after retrieving the master seal for Training Ground #46, he took a look at his short-lived successor's (and unfortunately predecessor's) portrait. Minato had been a living legend, having proven his worth via his exploits in the Third Great Shinobi War, and had been immortalized in his sacrifice against the Kyuubi.

_Oh Minato, what would you have done? I'm getting too old for this shit, and to top it off, I fear I might have made one mistake too many with your son. My only condolence is that he has held on against all odds, and demonstrated a part of the Will of Fire. I can only hope he forgives me and, in time, surpasses your own deeds._

_---_

**Whew, and there goes the 'prologue of the prologue', if you will.**

**Although minor, there is something near the end of this chapter I want to clarify, where Itachi is talking about muscle and bone growth. The main theory of working out is that when you lift weights, it creates microfractures in your muscle tissues, and your body repairs the tissues and adds a bit more on so that they aren't as liable to have fractures, which is how one gets stronger through working out. In regards to the skeletal structure, in some cases (but not all), when a bone has a fracture or breaks, the body can also overdo itself and make the bone either denser or larger than before. **

**One might also note that the Kyuubi never says to the Sandaime that he can't break free for awhile. He's not lying; he's simply holding information so that nobody gets the idea to do something like kidnap Naruto, take him to Iwa and kill him there to blow up the place out of fear that Nartuo might just let Kyuubi go in revenge before they reach Iwa.**

**There are a few changes in canon here. First and foremost to note at the moment is that Itachi's age is moved up by three years, so that instead of being five years older than Sasuke he's eight years older, but he'll have been ANBU already for two years. This is so that there isn't quite as awkward of an age distance between him and Naruto (a thirteen-year-old just feels like a better mentor to a five-year-old than a ten-year-old), and because when the Uchiha Massacre comes around, it doesn't seem so ridiculous for a sixteen-year-old (as opposed to a thirteen-year-old) to be killing approximately 200+ people.**

**Tone-wise, the story will be a bit more 'serious' and realistic, though not necessarily 'dark'. For an example of what I mean, take a look at the end of the chapter where Sarutobi uses Kage Bunshin to do paperwork. A lot of fanfiction will have somebody suggest it to him in passing where it`s like a new revelation to him, but it shouldn`t be – he should've figured it out as a solution very quickly into his first tenure. If a character is good, then they`ll actually be **_**competent**_**.**

**This story will be divided into three arcs, and will end up with an 'epic length'. The first arc will be a typical 'Naruto becomes an ANBU at a young age and is sent to the academy undercover to watch over Sasuke' story. See "The Identity that Holds the Mask" or "The Smiling White Mask of ANBU" for some inspiration of this idea. The first arc will also end after the point in the timeline where the Sasuke Retrieval Arc would be (but whether Sasuke actually defects or not isn't something I'm going to say). There'll also be some sharp deviations in the plot, though it'll still follow the same general line of the manga. Naruto will only have one love interest, and that'll be an OC. Also, I **_**will **_**use Fuuinjutsu, and I will abuse the crap out of it for storyline purposes. For now, that's all I have to say plotwise, as saying anymore would spoil the story!**


	2. A1C2: Meeting the Senseis

**Arc One: Prelude to Darkness**

**Chapter Two: Meeting the Senseis**

As a low-density fluid, the air parted easily as a kunai whistled through the air, the curvature of its path providing its destination, light glinting off its silver sheen. Disappointingly for its caster, the point end of the projectile landed on the outer edge of the ring, with its shaft sunk in only a few inches. He showed his disappointment with a few choice words loud enough to cause the slightest of echoes, despite the open field he was currently in.

Standing beside him was a figure donning a cowled white cloak that indicated his status as a captain of the Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai, most commonly referred to as ANBU. Surveying his new pupil's form every time he threw and watching the end result of each trial, he was quickly coming to a conclusion: Uzumaki Naruto lacked the skill, but his passion to improve burned hotter than the black flames of the legendary Amaterasu jutsu (at this thought which he shook his head, and decided to cut down the amount of time he spent around Gai).

That was a good thing for Itachi Uchiha, however. Shortly after he had first activated his Sharingan at the tender age of eight, he had gotten into an altercation with the aforementioned bowl-haired over his odd personality. Even though Gai had been six years older than him, he still thought that he would win easily thanks to his doujutsu. It was with great shock that he was absolutely slaughtered in that battle, as he realized that even if he could see Gai's movements (and the Sharingan's ability to keep up with them was still strained in comparison to the motion of other people), it meant nothing if the rest of his body couldn't keep up with his eyes. That had been a literal eye-opener to Itachi, and since then he had taken the lesson to heart, forcing his body through training sessions almost as punishing as what Gai did, although even he couldn't be quite as enthusiastic as the spandex-clad man was in paying in sweat and blood.

Over time, that had allowed his body to be able to catch up extensively with his eyes, and he had begun to become a prodigy of sorts. To the Uchiha clan, and most importantly his father Fugaku, head of the Uchiha, he was something they could brag about. He loathed it, as he had been consistently hyped up as a once-a-generation genius. He never once felt special – all he had ever done was to actually push his limits, something which he had awkwardly become aware that few Uchiha ever did. Gai was the one whom deserved to be put on a pedestal – if every ninja in the Uchiha clan and Konoha put in even a quarter of the effort that that man did, the great tree that was Konoha would benefit for it, and the Will of Fire would burn stronger.

And yet, even though he had become a perfect physical specimen, he still relied too much on his Sharingan eyes. He came to realise this during his ANBU entry tests two years ago. On the taijutsu examination, he performed with perfect marks, his only flaw being the relative lack of experience, having never been sent to the front lines in the Third Great Shinobi War. However, for the genjutsu portion, they brought in a Chunin called Kurenai Yuuhi, who was quickly becoming known as the Genjutsu Princess of Konoha. It was there he realized two flaws in his Sharingan: the first being that even if it can see through illusions to some degree, there is a point where he had to rely on himself to be able to break them. Secondly, even if he could take cues from or copy hand signs, it doesn't help when your opponent uses a genjutsu on you that _doesn't use hand signs_. Kurenai had gotten off more than a few genjutsus on him that way, and so he only did about average on the genjutsu portion.

But it was the ninjutsu portion where he was truly humbled, as he had gone up against Kakashi Hatake, a Black Ops captain. Itachi had gotten to know him a slight-bit over the past few years, ever since Hatake had gotten a Sharingan eye from one of Itachi's relatives. Throughout the whole fight Hatake had fought one-eyed, so Itachi had presumed that he would have an advantage, only to be once again defeated. It wasn't just the power behind the jutsu (as Itachi had increased his chakra reserves severalfold over the years thanks to his intense training), but also _how_ one used it. It was Kakashi's clever use and mastery of several ninjutsus in rapidfire combination that showed that even if one could use a jutsu, it meant nothing unless one knew how to use it.

For Itachi Uchiha, it was a sad experience for him once he came to the conclusion that most Uchiha would have shrugged the results of the fights off and continued to believe in their own superiority because of the Sharingan. Ever since then, he had gone above and beyond the call of duty in breaking down everything he learned, understanding the theory behind it, putting it all back together and mastering it. In the process, he had struggled to encourage other members of the Uchiha clan to do the same as he was doing. Only a few caught onto it, with only minimal enthusiasm. His cousin Shisui, who he considered a second brother, was the only one whom had begun to see the light and do the same as he did, although he remained in the regular shinobi force as opposed to joining ANBU. Itachi knew that he would be able to convince Sasuke of doing the same, as it was his image that the brother looked up to with almost unparalleled devotion. Itachi would leave his little brother be for a few more years; after all, he himself had been the way he once was until he had been eight, and shortly thereafter had become a 'genius'. Let Sasuke have a childhood for a few years longer, and then he would start training Sasuke himself.

The blond standing beside him, however, had no such timeline to be a child. He never had and never would have a chance to just be a carefree, innocent child, ever since the day that he was born and the Kyuubi was sealed in him. But it was also this that endeared Itachi to wanting to train Uzumaki Naruto himself: the boy had not once had anything to lose, and he had everything to gain. He had fought tooth and nail every day of his life to survive his environment, and would not back down until he had lost the will to live. He knew harshness and opposition, and had never once fallen down and not gotten back up. But what truly boggled Itachi's mind was how if only Naruto could turn the Kyuubi, the one thing that had brought him his never-say-never attitude, towards increasing his strength, the boy had almost infinite potential. In addition to being able to build muscle and bone mass and density quickly and having almost instant regeneration, he also had nearly a limitless amount of chakra. With the Kyuubi actually taking a hand in young Naruto's teaching, he felt his new protégé could become a Kami amongst men.

What had the raven-haired man to gain from this? He had thought about this a few times in the past few days, and he couldn't put a clear finger to his motives. They weren't malicious reasons; although he admitted that a small part of him hated the boy because of irrational fear of the unknown and of his jealousy, he was able to put that aside and see someone in need of guidance. Some part of the _why_ were ulterior motives – he wanted to be able to take pride in being the sensei to who he hoped to be a legendary shinobi, and to be able to show others that his methods of being a shinobi were the best, though he was unsure at what point in the future his hand in the boy's development would be able to be revealed. Another part was to make up for his clan's actions. To this day, he still found himself in disbelief whenever he thought about how the Uchiha clan brought to bear all of its political power to pressure anyone who had wanted to adopt 'the Kyuubi gaki', and now that he knew that Uchiha Madara had instigated the attack against Konohagakure, also felt he owed a blood debt to Naruto for his clan having ruined his life. Itachi knew all too well his father Fugaku's motivations: Naruto was _dangerous_ to Fugaku, not in the sense that Naruto held enough power to destroy Konoha if a conflict ever occurred with those two on opposite sides, but because Naruto could become so powerful as to put the Uchiha clan in his shadow. It was typical thinking like that that Itachi detested, and he had slowly come to loathe his father over the last year as a result. In his own mind, if the clan was to be overshadowed by another clan or a person, then the clan needed to become strong enough to hold its own, not become petty and eliminate the threat before it could become an existential threat. Itachi had read through some of the secret Uchiha archives, and had become disappointed at seeing how many clans in Konoha had become undercut by both the Uchiha and Hyuuga clans in the past. Most particular was the Kurama clan, who had their clan halved in one night during the Second Great Shinobi War as a result of the aforementioned two doujutsu clans becoming fearful of their strong genjutsus and having them sent on a suicide mission behind the Sandaime's back. He was disgusted at the action of both clans, and resolved that once he was clan head, he would do his best to root out the corruption.

But beyond all these ulterior motives of Itachi, there was one that struck a chord in his stoic manner: it was how Naruto _looked_. His sea-blue eyes and sunny-blond hair resembled the electric shock-blue hues and golden colouring of the Yondaime's own eyes and hair. It was something that Itachi had yet to think on consciously, but the resemblance was _uncanny_, and he was surprised nobody had remarked on it yet. It was this last fact that made up Itachi's motives: the Yondaime Hokage was one of the few men he had one hundred percent respect for, both for the aura of power he exuded the few times Itachi had seen the man in person, as well as his unselfish sacrifice he made for Konoha. It was that sacrifice that saved Itachi and all he held dear from being vanquished by the majestic force of the Kyuubi, and it was the least that he could do to actually fulfill the Yondaime's wish to treat his legacy as a hero.

It was with a jolt that Itachi broke free from his thoughts as he saw that Naruto had rethrown all eight kunai in his possession. Looking over at the practice targets, he saw that his new student had gotten considerably closer the bullseye on the targets. He had had his Sharingan on and looking at Naruto the whole time while he was thinking, so he called up the memories of the images that had been burned into his retinas and analyzed the jinchuuriki's stance and throws. The results were beginning to show. "Much better, Naruto. You're beginning to minimize the unnecessary movement from your body, but you're still relying too much on raw power and not enough on finesse." He was quite glad that the Kyuubi had extended his container's vocabulary to a level that he would be able to understand Itachi when he got into more technical terms. "You also must remember to rely more on the flick of your wrist and your fingers as opposed to your arm to guide the direction of the kunai. It may not seem important now, but eventually you will be using shuriken as well, and they need spin velocity to work. After some practice and increase in skill level, you'll even be able to throw up to four kunai or shuriken from each hand by putting one projectile between each two fingers."

It was with fervent dedication that Naruto paid attention to the ponytailed ANBU, whom had just recently moved into the cabin on Training Ground #46 with him. To him, only a few people had paid any sort of positive attention to him, with most others opting to either scorn him, glare at him, or ignore him, with a few more bolder people beating him on the occasion, particularly on festivals when there were large numbers of people together and under the influence and one idle spoken thought of the demon brat could set off a riot. That somebody was actually not only giving him positive attention but also helping him in something, anything, was something he latched onto right away, unwilling to let go. So long as it did not infringe upon the survival instincts he had developed over the last five years, he would do anything Itachi-sensei asked of him, and listened carefully to what he said so as not to disappoint the raven-haired ANBU.

And so he took Itachi's advice into consideration after he collected up his kunai. Correcting his stance by adjusting it ever so slightly, he kept a focused gaze on the target twenty meters dead ahead and inclined above his head at about a twenty degree angle. Letting instinct do the job of calculating the effects of angle, distance, air pressure, the direction and velocity of the slight breeze, he let the kunai fly with its own slender grace, and was rewarded with a loud thunk that indicated the blade going in significantly deeper than all his previous tries. A quick glance brought a gleeful look to his face, the sunlight glistening off his hair and the sheen of his sweat on his forehead making the impression of the bright smile even more intense. Hopefully the fact that his kunai was only a sliver away from being dead center would impress his new sensei.

The man in question was in fact impressed, and let it show, having slightly understood that trying to remain his normal stoic-faced self would only damper the enthusiasm that Naruto had for learning the shinobi arts. Seeing that Naruto had the form for throwing a weapon mostly down, he decided to finish this portion up for the day, leaving the boy's body time enough to recover and for muscle memory to be ingrained. Besides, if what he suspected was true, he might need the rest of the day to keep up with his new apprentice anyways. "Naruto-san," he said, not at all nonplussed by the complete informality of this odd sensei-student relationship, "That's it for weapons training for the day. Go put away your kunais and come back right after." All he got in response was a quick, short bow and a loudly exclaimed "Hai, Itachi-sensei!" before the boy ran off. Oh yes, he would be a legendary shinobi indeed.

When he came back, Itachi indicated for him to sit down. The younger of the two took to sitting cross-legged on the verdure grass while the older sat in a composed position on a nearby stump, as if he were at a fireside chat. "Now, Naruto-san, what do you know exactly about chakra energy? Tell me everything you can think of about it."

Naruto scrunched his face up in concentration. Up until now, he had never really had an education of any sort that wasn't learned on the streets. Nevertheless, between his short, brief conversations with the Kyuubi since their first meeting, and his occasional chats with the old man Hokage, he had gathered a meagre understanding of the concept of chakra. "Um, chakra comes from mixing your spiritual energy with your physical energy. You can use this chakra to perform jutsus, and that's about all I know."

Itachi refrained from sighing, knowing all too well how badly a five-year-old could react if he took the sigh the wrong way. Still, at least Naruto understood the very, very, _very_ basic idea of chakra, and it was something he could build off of. He started off telling Naruto as much, then launched into a more in-depth explanation. "So yes, chakra _does_ use physical and spiritual energy. Your body and its fitness and age is what is considered physical energy, so a person with lots of stamina will likely have more chakra than a person who becomes fatigued more easily. On the other end of the spectrum, your intelligence along with your mental experiences makes up spiritual energy. Your body under normal circumstances combines the two automatically into chakra. To be able to use more chakra, you must train both body and mind. The most important thing is that by using your chakra, your body will be forced to replenish it, and automatically ups the amount of capacity that it can have. You, on the other hand," at this point focusing his gaze solely on Naruto to drive home the point, with the fair-hair flinching slightly under his onyx eyes, "You have two additional ways of increasing this chakra capacity, both of which are automatic. From my discussions with the Kyuubi, it appears that the seal that imprisons him causes some of his demonic chakra, more commonly known as yokai, to leak out into your own chakra system. The amount that does is a very small fraction, but what does get out, for lack of a better technical term, _pushes_ on your own chakra reserves, and the two have to counterbalance. The chakra and yokai that counterbalance will be lost from your system, but both will regenerate itself through natural processes. However, the nine-tails actually permanently loses yokai from the other process that the seal has: it forces yokai to be converted into chakra, which then permanently expands your own chakra reserves."

Pausing to allow Naruto to mull over his words, and noticing him hanging over his every word, Itachi continued, "That brings us to your chakra system. Think of your chakra system in terms of your circulatory system – you have a central organ, the heart, which pumps out blood through the arteries, and the blood after serving its purpose returns to the heart through the veins. Much akin to your arteries and vein, chakra is delivered throughout the body via a series of chakra coils. The_ length_ of your coils will grow over time with your body, but the _width_ will increase ever so microscopically every time it needs to, although even that is restricted by your body size. In comparison to the heart, however, there are actually eight different points in your body, often referred to as the Eight Gates, where your reserves are stored. While the chakra is in your body, you can manipulate your chakra and release it through points called tenketsus, of which there are 361 such points on the body. The Hyuga clan's doujutsu allows them to see these tenketsus, and they can also use their own chakra to block off the points, which can be very devastating."

"However, in your particular case, there are some problems. Over the past five years, between natural growth, the yokai pushing on your own reserves, and the actual absorption of the Kyuubi's yokai, your chakra reserves have become extraordinarily large. Depending on whether your parents were themselves shinobis or not, you may have been gifted with naturally large reserves, demonic influence aside. Because of this, your body has had to constantly adjust to be able to contain all that chakra. I estimate that you probably have enough chakra to rival Ichibi, the one-tailed tanuki. Although I do not have experimental evidence, it theoretically makes sense that your chakra is, again for lack of a better term, far denser than the average person's, simply because it only has a finite amount of space to fit in. In addition to that, my Sharingan eyes allow me to see chakra flow to a minimal degree, and it simply astounds me – your body is producing so much chakra that it is literally _leaking_ out of your body. Once you hit a growth spurt you should be able to get a hold on that, as the length of your coils will increase in size and hence have an easier time of it, but I believe that after awhile your chakra capacity will catch up and cause the same problems all over again. Hence, you will have to regularly expend chakra until it stops leaking before you can even have a chance at controlling it. Unfortunately, you will probably end up having to do this everyday until we find a solution to this." Itachi took this time to stop talking for twofold purposes; the first was to let Naruto digest the information as some of it was a bit on the technical side. The second, to his undying shame, was because he was nearly red in the face from having to speak so much. He simply wasn't _used_ to lecturing for so long without pause, and he was furthermore part of a clan that he sometimes felt had a genetic predisposition to respond to everything with short, to-the-point grunts.

After having caught a breath and letting his jaw cool down a bit, he carried onwards after pinning part of his cloak underneath his arm to better protect himself from a strong breeze that was passing by. "This also means that until your out-of-whack chakra growth stops, you will probably never be able to perform any low-grade jutsu that requires a significant amount of chakra control. Before I teach you anything else, however, you'll need to be able to actually use your chakra. Normally, it would take you weeks if not months of meditation to be able to do so, to attain that feeling of being able to reach into your body and pulling out energy for your own use. However, much like I said before, your chakra is literally leaking from your body, so you should have a much easier time of following it. The best method to start off is to meditate."

"Lots of people have funny concepts about medication, such as having to sit cross-legged, or keeping your body rigid, or clenching your hands together. All you really need to do is to be sitting down in a comfortable position – yes, laying down suffices – and keeping all your muscles in a relaxed state. From there, you have to clear your mind of your five senses. The best way for a beginner to filter them out is by thinking about something, and then letting your mind drift off from there. For an example of what I mean, look at that tree over there. I'm thinking about the tree, and noting that the leaves are a bright green. I then think about how springtime is coming to a close based off the hue of the leaves, and how the Kyuubi festival was a few days ago. Obviously that's not a string of thoughts you would go off of, but carrying on; I would then gush over the various stands at the festival selling pocky, yes, I'm a pocky addict much like you love your ramen, and then think about how I should get some pocky later on tonight. Then I'd be thinking about whether I should get strawberry or chocolate pocky."

"By this time, you've noticed I've completely gone astray from my initial thoughts, and by then, my senses aren't quite as keen. Once you've picked up on the fact that you've stopped paying attention to the surroundings, you should quickly slow down your thoughts. Close your eyes, ignore your hearing and smelling, and purge your mind of any thinking. After a short while, you should pick up a sort of _flow_ to your body, not quite unlike the passage of blood throughout your circulatory system, but you can inwardly feel it as opposed to having to put a finger your hand to feel for a pulse. When that occurs, you'll have to try to dam up the flow, or push on it to make it move faster. Once you can successfully do that even once, you'll instinctually be able to manipulate chakra, and we can go onto the next part of the lesson." Itachi was glad to finally be able to get onto the practical part of the lecture, as he was beginning to feel a bit of a sore jaw from so much talking, and Naruto's yawn indicated that he was struggling to keep interested in so much theory.

---

It took a couple of hours, but Naruto was finally able to do it. The first time he felt the flow of chakra within his body, the sheer sensation of it startled him out of his trance. Thankfully, the second time he began meditating, it took him only five minutes of meditating to clear his mind of all thoughts, and another five to feel the chakra flow. This time, he experimentally did what could only be best described as 'flexing' the chakra flow, and excitedly got to trying to actually manipulate it. This time, he was knocked out of the odd state of being by his frustration when he had been unable to actually do anything. The third time was the charm – once he managed to feel his chakra, he did something weird that felt like nudging it, which returned an odd sensation to his brain. He took the initiative and built off the action of the nudge, and _there it was_. With some experimentation, he managed to stem and quicken the flow, and even cause a slight pulse to the movement.

Itachi was able to sense the slight disturbance in his pupil's chakra flow as well, but was more amazed at how quickly Naruto had managed to manipulate his chakra. Most people took weeks or months to do such a thing, and were it not for his previous theories on how much easier it would be for Naruto to manipulate it, he would have thought it flat-out impossible, or believed Naruto to be a Kami amongst geniuses. Even taking into factor his guesswork, he still believed it would've taken at least double the time it actually required.

Shaking off his thoughts, leaving them to linger for later, he spoke up, bringing Naruto out of his reverie, "Well then, it seems that you've managed to reach within yourself and use your chakra. That brings us to the next part, actual chakra manipulation. As I've mentioned before, chakra is a form of energy created by your body through the mixing of physical and spiritual energies. On its own, it is merely that – a form of energy. The best you might do is to just release all your chakra and cause it to heat your surroundings, possibly blowing up."

He took a breath, going into the next part of the lecture. "Over time, nobody really knows how they managed it, ninjas developed a system of twelve hand symbols also known as hand seals that allow us to manipulate the flow of chakra, named after twelve animals, and several seals can be strung together to perform jutsus. Each hand seal has its own properties to it. For example, the tora handseal is affiliated with the fire element, and hence is the last seal used in basically every fire element jutsu. The snake handseal is often associated with deception and illusion, so many genjutsus and other illusionary techniques will have at least one snake handseal thrown in there. "

Naruto leaned forward as Itachi did a demonstration of a handseal, clenching all four fingers on his left hand while pointing his thumb upwards, with his right ring finger and pinky overlapping his left and the middle, index and thumb all pointing up. "This is the Ram seal, which has several uses. However, what I want you to use it for right now is to channel forth your chakra. When you do this, it will be raw, unadulterated chakra, and it will escape from your tenketsus. The visibility and feel to it will tell me how much chakra you have and the amount of pressure there is to it." Itachi picked himself up from his position on the stump, and, indicating to Naruto to stay where he was, walked back approximately ten meters – he was no fool, and if Naruto's chakra levels truly were what he suspected them to be, he would need to take care to stay out of the immediate vicinity. He shouted out to the young lad, "Put your hands together in the Ram seal while feeling your chakra, let it out, then drop the seal after about ten seconds."

He almost immediately regretted stepping back only ten meters, as his knees grew weak with the strength of the first wave of chakra that washed over him. _Thank god that the seals on this training ground prevent anyone outside from feeling this, or else I'd have a squad of ANBU here within minutes! _The second wave of energy caused him to stagger backwards, while the third wave sent him down to his knees. _OK, if I ever spar against him, I have to stay away until he exhausts his outermost layer of reserves!_

By the fourth wave, the time had expired and Naruto stopped his Ram seal. Seeing his new sensei on the ground with his hands clenched deep into the earth, he ran forward in alarm, shouting out "Itachi-sensei, are you alright?!"

Itachi replied in favour, "I'm alright, but thank you for the concern." Getting up, he swept the grass and dirt off from his cloak, and allowed his analytical mind to take over. That first wave of chakra had been very intense, but the second wave not quite as intense (but still intense), and the third wave weaker still. Rolling it over in his head, he came to the conclusion that Naruto's chakra coils must have forced out as much chakra as possible in those three bursts to alleviate the pressure caused by having so much chakra to begin with. Applying it in battle, his first few jutsus, if he could control his chakra at all, would have that pressure behind it, meaning the beginning of a fight would be where he could cause the most damage. He said as much to Naruto, who soaked up the concept like a sponge and began bouncing around at the idea of having such a massive amount of power.

"Calm down, Naruto!," Itachi scolded. Naruto, not wishing to disappoint his sensei, stopped, red lighting up his face as he understood how foolish he had acted. Standing at attention, he listened as Itachi carried on, "Now, as I was saying, your chakra system is a mess, but you should be able to fix up most of your problems if you let out as much chakra as you can a couple of times a day much like you just did there." He paused, trying to figure out the best way to say what was coming next, before deciding to just fess up, "However, even if you can get rid of most of the excess chakra, your control will still have problems because of its density and what's left of the pressure. I simply cannot help you there, because even the simplest exercise I know for helping with that will still be too difficult for you to do. That will be left up to your other human sensei, Ebisu, who you will meet in a few days. He is far more capable with helping you with that sort of thing than I am."

Naruto sighed, in disappointment at his incapability to tap into the power that Itachi had just told him he had, and in frustration at his glee having been led on like that. Itachi, seeing that Naruto needed a pick-me-up, continued, "Cheer up, Naruto. I can still teach you any jutsu that doesn't require any control whatsoever, and in fact, considering just how _much_ chakra you have and the state of your studies, I have the perfect jutsu for you." Naruto perked up at this as he saw Itachi form his hands into another handseal. "This is a Tora handseal," Here, he moved each index finger into a cross position, "And this is an adjusted Tora handseal used exclusively for a kinjutsu known as the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." With a poof sound and a whisp of smoke, there was a second Itachi standing right next to the first!

Naruto couldn't help but gape in awe. To him, it was truly a remarkable technique, especially when both Itachi's spontaneously poked him on the forehead. The bunshin was not an illusion, but was solid! "H-h-how?!" he stuttered, unused to such a phenomenon.

A smirk crossed Itachi's features, the two lines on his cheeks crinkling ever so slightly. "The wonders of chakra, it makes you wonder how the civilians can live their mundane day-to-day lives without the excitement of the techniques one can do with chakra. Now, the Kage Bunshin is known as a kinjutsu, or a Forbidden Jutsu. Kinjutsus are that way for a good reason, as they can have bad side-effects, or require a sacrifice of sorts, or are used for malicious purposes. In the case of the Kage Bunshin, the cost of summoning them is so great that usually only those of jonin levels can summon them, and to reinforce them to take more than one hit consumes even more chakra. For you, however, it'll be a pittance; in fact, I daresay that unless you gain perfect chakra control, you will never be able to perform the regular Bunshin without going overkill on the number you make. Additionally, every time you summon one you split a small part of your soul to make it – it isn't quite as bad as I make it sound, there isn't any adverse effect because of that – and as a result Kage Bunshins are able to act independently and think on their own. The real reason that it is considered a kinjutsu, however, is that when you dispel a Kage Bunshin, the piece of soul returns to you, and along with it, all the memories of that piece's lifetime away from you. In other words, if your Kage Bunshin was to read a book and then be dispelled, _you_ would remember reading that book and its contents. With only a few Kage Bunshins the effect isn't that bad, but if you were to dispel a dozen Kage Bunshins all at once, your brain would have to compile through all of the memories all at once. In other words, mental overload."

Seeking to both shoot down some of Naruto's false hopes and build up others that lied deep underneath the surface, he pressed on quickly. "In your case, since you are only five years old and have already had a large-scale mental change with Kyuubi filling your brain with the ability to read, write, and talk, you will need to take it even more lightly than usual. With practice, you can increase the pace you can keep up with information. For the first little while, do not use them for training purposes at all. Instead, set them to mundane purposes while you live out here, such as gathering firewood, doing dishes, or cooking your ramen, although it is your own physical entity that must eat the ramen to sustain yourself. You cannot have a Kage Bunshin do that. If you are reading a book, be sure to only read for about an hour before dispelling the Kage Bunshin."

"Eventually, as your ability to tolerate new information increases, as well as being able to filter out more mundane memories, you can use it for actual training. You can use them to read and understand multiple scrolls at once. You can set them on chakra control exercises and speed up the results ten times as quickly. You can spar with them and fix any flaws and inconsistencies in your movements. You CANNOT, however, use them to improve your physical body, nor your reflexes or muscle memory. That you must do entirely on your own."

"Besides ninjutsu and genjutsu, I will also eventually teach you in the arts of kenjutsu. I will not teach you any style of taijutsu; instead, I will show you how to move your body around with maximum efficiency and minimal effort, and train your reflexes and muscle memories."

"However, before I even do that, you must train your own body. Thanks to the Kyuubi's yokai and its regenerative powers, you should have Kami-like stamina, and whenever you exercise and train your body, you will build muscle and bone mass far quicker than the normal person. Of course, I realize you have not been fed very well over the past five years, so I will be obtaining groceries at least once a week, and you _will_ be eating something other than ramen. Your body needs protein to build muscle, it needs calcium and other minerals, and it needs even more calories to keep up with the pace I'll be setting you through." Having finished outlining his own duties in teaching Naruto, he motioned towards Naruto to stand up and get ready for some practical work.

Itachi showed the modified Tora handseal to Naruto again, who copied the gesture. After a bit more elaboration on what he should feel, Naruto went through the handseal and let his chakra pulse out. The first few times, nothing occurred except for a heaviness weighing down on him ever so slightly. When he brought this up with his sensei, Itachi informed him that he was giving off a large amount of chakra with each attempt, and that the heaviness was a result of his body losing large amounts of chakra all at once, although the side-effects would be worse if he were to actually approach having little chakra instead of just losing lots of it at once.

The ANBU captain adjusted his handseals a couple of times to fix small mistakes, and had him rest for a few minutes before attempting it again. It was a weird feeling for him this time around: as soon as he let go of his chakra, his feet seemed to be as light as a feather, and a small measure of warmth enveloped his feet. The feeling extended up his body until it exited out the top of his head, leaving his whole body feeling weightless and yet at the same time full of energy and brimming with life, before the warmth of it all left him. Looking around, he was surprised when he saw more than twenty clones of him, white shirt and black pants and sandals and all, identical down to the tag on the back of his tee. A second later, Itachi flickered in and out of existence, with smoke filling the area. A flood of memories enveloped Naruto's mind for a split second before he shook his head to get rid of the small buzzing sound in his ears. Although he remembered each of his clones getting killed by a punch or kick, their five-second lifetime and similar deaths all blended together so it wasn't so painful to recall. So this was what Itachi meant by the side-effects not being so bad when the memories were of a more mundane value.

The man in question allowed a small smirk to cross his face, not allowing anything uncharacteristic to cross the shadows of his lips. As he brushed his hair with his hand, fingers twitching in his ponytail, he proceeded to praise Naruto, "Well then, you managed to make twenty Kage Bunshins after only a few tries. Well done. Most _genin_ would be hard-pressed to make more than three at the apex of their time in the lower ranks, and it's a rare gift indeed to be able to succeed in doing a jutsu on your third attempt." He was pleased to see the smile cross Naruto's face, before being slightly disturbed as he realized the boy's whiskers and the slightly feral trusses of his hair made the smile a bit too close to a fox's for his liking. Brushing it off as a side-effect of being the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, he then continued onto the last matter for the day. "That said, that's enough talk about chakra. Your body hasn't had the right kind of exercise to help it develop. Running around and scurrying through alleys is _not_ the right kind, and I intend to correct that."

Needless to say, Naruto soon realized why Uchiha Itachi was claimed as a prodigal genius. It wasn't because he was born talented, or because he had a strong Sharingan, but because he pushed himself beyond his limits. In the short training exercise that followed, he was utterly _ruthless_. He had Naruto going through push-ups, sit-ups, jumping jacks, and more complicated maneuvers all day long, giving him only brief periods of rest before dousing him off with a small Suiton jutsu. He called it off after two hours, however, noting that in his current malnourished state he shouldn't do too much exercise.

---

It was in the cabin that Naruto thought about his new life. The last thing he had remembered that fateful night was entering the Kyuubi's chamber with Itachi and Hokage only to be banished within the second. When he woke up, he found out that he had been whisked away to a secret training ground, and had been lying in a bed in the cabin there. The man in the weasel mask, who he had learned to be Uchiha Itachi, had made it very clear at the beginning that he was not like other Uchiha and did not hate or dislike him (though he admittedly held a healthy amount of fear for him because of his status as a jinchuuriki). He was to train him, he was to feed him, he was to help him ever so steadily reintegrate back into society after that incident at the Kyuubi festival.

The Sandaime clearly trusted the ANBU captain, so he would trust him as well. Naruto understood all too well that he was to foster and develop his skills as a shinobi, and so he would go along with it, so long as it could help him achieve his end-goal of cutting down on the suffering many people had to go through. It was a strange sort of irony – a ninja was supposed to do several things such as assassination, kidnappings, and sabotage, but depending on the intended consequences and the motivations one could ignore the darkness of the business and make the best out of it. He would try his best to seem loyal to Konoha for now, and use any position that he might gain here to do what he could. He was ambitious, but also had to admit that he was ignorant: he had no idea whatsoever whether Konoha was one of few or one of many or even the _only_ village that at least tried to embody the same ideals he held. Sure, while walking through the streets he had been either ignored or glared at with malicious intent, had received the occasional beating at the orphanage for what were unfair reasons, and on festival days and Saturdays often had to stick to the shadows to avoid drunk people who had gotten it into their heads to hunt him down, with the recent attack being one of the few times where they actually tried to _kill _him, but he was the _only one_ to be forced into such a fate. Otherwise, the orphanages were well funded, many of the kids were quickly adopted, the streets were kept cleaned up, and he had only twice seen homeless people. For Naruto, he simply didn't know whether this was the case with every community, or if Konoha was a diamond in the rough.

He had shunted aside these concerns for later, feeling quickly that he would be unable to click on Itachi in the way that was needed to bring such a matter up with him. For now, he would let it rest until he found someone else to talk to about it. However, it was that first night that he had woken up suddenly in a cold sweat, as a thought had spontaneously crossed his mind while sleeping – the demon that was sealed within him was Kyuubi, the _nine_-tailed fox, who was said to be the _greatest_ of all bijuu. Did that mean that there were eight other individuals out there that suffered the same burden as him? Perhaps there were even more who had the same fate, but had demons that weren't of the bijuu class. Even if his earlier concerns about regular people were unfounded, he couldn't help shake the worrying feeling he had for his possible fellow jinchuuriki.

---

The next few weeks passed with little incident for Naruto, who had been all but cut off from the outside world, Itachi his only companion. The Kyuubi hadn't yet gotten in touch with him since that destined day, but he had a sinking feeling that he would soon come face-to-face once more with the kitsune lord. Itachi promised him that he would soon meet his third sensei, but for then, he forced Naruto to eat incrementally larger amounts of foodstuffs daily, purge his system of large amounts of chakra daily, and work him through steadily harsher exercises. After the first few days, he had shown Naruto how to stretch his body and warm up every joint and skeletal muscle. Since then, Naruto had steadily begun to progress in Itachi's teachings over how to keep his body in a constant state of readiness, so he could recoil and pounce at a moment's instance, without needing to pause and get his body into position first.

Eventually, the day came where Itachi was called out to take on a mission for ANBU, interrupting his 'undercover assignment' that he was supposedly engaged in to explain his whereabouts whilst he lived with Naruto. Before Itachi had gone off, he had brought in Ebisu, and introduced the two, debriefing Ebisu on all the details of his and Kyuubi's arrangements, specifically mentioning that Naruto was in contact with the fox so that the tutor wouldn't receive any nasty surprises when he worked with Naruto.

Ebisu was...unique, to say the least. Most Fire Country ninja wore light clothing, but Ebisu practically ignored the local climate and took to wearing dark blue, high-collar cotton shirts. Naruto couldn't understand why he would do that in contrast with the smarter choice of sunglasses and matching dark blue bandana. Before leaving , Itachi told him to make a good impression with his new sensei, noting that Ebisu was far more of a stickler than he was for respect, and Naruto took the Uchiha's words to heart. He paid attention to his honorifics, stood at attention whenever being spoken to, and did whatever Ebisu asked without complaint (although he would often ask for elaboration on why he needed to do certain things whenever he couldn't understand the importance of them). When Ebisu assigned him scrolls and books to read overnight (as he, unlike Itachi, did not stay long-term at the cabin, preferring to stay at his own apartment), Naruto would read them over with an analytical eye, often doing it twice, taking advantage of the Kage Bunshin.

While Naruto was doing his best to match up to and exceed his sensei's expectations from the first day onwards, the Tokubetsu Jonin had been flabbergasted. Truthfully, the main reason he had taken on Naruto as a new pupil was to get on the good side of the Hokage, who promised him that if he did a good job with Naruto, he would be under serious consideration for being the future private tutor for Sarutobi's new grandson Konohamaru. He promised himself he would sacrifice whatever piece of mind he would need to give up to make it through teaching the demon brat, but he hadn't expected Uzumaki Naruto to be so _cordial_. The boy never blew up like he expected him to when he had ridiculed his chakra control; it was true that he had become frustrated at his inability to hold a leaf on his forehead for longer than three seconds (even after Ebisu had cleared him for using a few Kage Bunshins to cut down on the training time), but that had been understandable when he realized just how much chakra Naruto had. With an amount that surpassed that of most Kages and the density of what was left, it would take a miracle to get a hold on it right away, and so he had set about to forcing Naruto to flush out even more chakra from his system every day to ever so slightly increase the chances of improving his control.

He had begun to wonder; just why was it _surprising_ that Naruto acted how he did? His mind had wondered over this reaction of his several times. He had originally been in the interrogation section, but had changed his field of expertise from interrogation to teaching for two reasons. The first reason was that he had felt more at home with teaching the younger generation, but the second reason was more shameful for him: his superiors had deemed him far too impressionable and too easily swayed into another person's line of thinking, and it was a quality that the Interrogation and Torture Department simply couldn't afford to allow.

He had yet to crush that character flaw of his, and so when conversation came up that involved Uzumaki Naruto, and the whispers brought dislike bordering on hatred, their opinion had become his opinion. Perhaps this was why the Hokage had asked him to teach the vessel of the Kyuubi no Kitsune – to see the real Uzumaki Naruto, and not the Uzumaki Naruto that had been generated by the false words of others who themselves relied on second-hand or third-hand sources, or just outright testimonies. It was a bit of a shock to Ebisu that it was working, but he still was unsure of to his own personal view on the boy. It wasn't until Naruto had worked up the courage to ask a question that he managed to sort it out himself.

"Neh, Ebisu, might I ask a question?" It was requested in such an innocent tone during the middle of an idle downtime that Ebisu immediately acknowledged the request and motioned for Naruto to go ahead and ask. "Ano, why do people hate me if I'm not the Kyuubi, but just its jailer?"

It was certainly not what Ebisu had been expecting, and he froze up. Naruto had quickly panicked when his sensei hadn't responded for five full minutes, and was about to prod him when Ebisu finally answered, "Well, Naruto-kun, there are several different layers of answers to that question."

"You must realize that the Kyuubi never actually once touched Konohagakure itself, as it was stopped thirty miles out by the Yondaime Hokage. However, on its way here, it left a path of destruction that killed several thousand and completely razed multiple towns in south Hi no Kuni. Furthermore, over three hundred shinobi lost their life that night, including Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime himself, who was almost worshipped by civilians and ninjas of Konoha alike. With their hero dead, you must understand that they needed a scapegoat, and unfortunately that scapegoat was you."

"However, even then, I suspect most everyone would eventually get over it, but that was not the main problem. You see, even though the Kyuubi was stopped thirty miles out, it still radiated such power and killing intent that it struck fear into the hearts of people still in Konoha at the time. Many sick and elderly passed away that night from the stress caused by that fear, despite no direct interaction with the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Every single person that lived in Konoha that night felt that fear. It was like a bolt of ice that struck you in the heart, paralyzing you, freezing you in place, unable to move. I was fifteen at the time, a newly promoted chunin. Against that monster, I was nothing." Ebisu suppressed a shiver as his mind dredged up his own memories of the Kyuubi's attack. Even after five years, the impression that such power had left on his psyche had only barely begun to fade.

"And you know, I believe that you can find most people's reason for their pathological fear right there. We are a _shinobi _village, a _military_ institution. The sheer power and aura that the nine-tails exuded even from so far away struck fear in those of us who had trained from birth to overcome fear, and they hated it. They hate you because that power is sealed within you, and what they can't understand, they fear, they see as a threat. Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage, was seen as a master of seals, it was his **Hiraishin no Jutsu** that practically won the Third Great Shinobi War for us against Iwagakure. If anyone were to design a seal that could perfectly contain the greatest of all bijuu, it would be him. But that's the problem, only he understands the seal. Even Jiraiya-sama and Hokage-sama, both highly accomplished connoisseurs of seals in their own rights, can't understand just what the Yondaime did in that seal, so nobody knows what exactly it does."

Ebisu left Naruto to think over that, while he was reevaluating his own opinion on the boy. Kami help him, he realized, he had let his impressionable nature get to him and it might have caused him to scorn an innocent young boy whom had been nothing but a model student, cordial, quiet, but naturally curious and with an unquenchable passion to learn and improve. The night after that conversation, he went to the Sandaime and asked for clearance on the rest of Naruto's profile (beyond his psyche profile), and with the notable exception of a few pieces of information that were ranked as SS-class state secrets, had gained access to his files. What he saw shocked him – Naruto's medical file was almost three inches thick, a file size that most _retired shinobi_ don't obtain, the result of a mob mentality that had taken over Konoha five years ago. Deep down, Ebisu resolved to no longer let his natural biases get in the way of his judgement, having just seen the consequences of doing so.

From the seeds of that conversation sprouted Ebisu's grudging respect towards Naruto for having had to put up with that proverbial crap for so long. He began putting forth that extra bit of dedication that he had felt missing from all his times teaching in the past, and it paid off with surplus, as Naruto began to grow like a weed under his guidance, eventually attaining moderate success in holding a leaf onto his forehead, then moving onto holding two and then three and four leaves at the same time onto various spots on his body, then being able to spin the leaf on his forehead. At the same time, he taught Naruto about the general world around them, of the Elemental Nations and the Hidden Villages, of the civilian and shinobi lives, and the history of the past and present of the Leaf Village.

Perhaps the turning point in their relationship was when Ebisu was one day at the bookstore subtlety going through the Icha Icha series section, occasionally sneaking a look and leafing through a few pages while trying to avoid being witnessed by anyone he knew, not wishing for his reputation to be established as being amorous. While going through, he found a lone copy of the first book ever written by Jiraiya of the Sannin, one that had nothing to do with sex and romance as all of Jiraiya's later novels were. Taking a chance, he purchased it and read it over that night. _The Legend of the Gutsy Ninja_ was inspiring even to him, a full-grown man, and so he gave it to Naruto to read. Naruto, who had rarely received gifts, took it and devoured it within the hour. And then he read it again. And then again. After the fourth time reading it, he couldn't help but feel a sense of kinship with the main character, whom was also named Naruto, and he felt his ambitions and desires solidify. His relationship with Ebisu improved even further, and he decided that one day he would like to meet the man who authored _The Legend of the Gutsy Ninja_, Jiraiya of the Sannin.

---

It was a couple of weeks after that day of reckoning that Naruto felt himself being pulled into his mindscape after he had fallen asleep. Traversing the hallways of his gutter mind (not being old enough or versed enough in slang to attempt a self-deprecating joke to himself), he came to the chamber of the king of kitsunes. The water that had been ankle deep the last time he came had receded ever so slightly, and the darkness of the sewers had retreat some more, signs of his new life bringing back some form of mental stability.

As soon as he stepped into that giant chamber room, however, it all came crashing down on him. _He_ was the vessel for the soul of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, a demon that had destroyed and slaughtered, massacred and killed. His body bore the weight of another, with the blood of tens of thousands on his hands. He couldn't help what he did next, as his consciousness locked itself up and he sat down, curled up in a fetal position, trembling in the damp waters.

The fox saw this happen, and began to worry. It wouldn't do for the ningen it was sealed into to suddenly have his mental frame of being shattered just like that. The first time they had met, he had gotten a freebie ride since the gaki needed companionship of some sorts and was naive to the full weight of just _what_ the fox was and what his presence meant. He had stayed out of the gaki's life for the last few weeks to let him heal and come to terms with what he was, a jinchuuriki, before calling him back in. Clearly, however, he was losing the battle, but he wouldn't let the mortal just go like that. **"Oi, gaki! Snap out of it!"**

His pleading call worked to a degree, as Naruto's trembling form began to calm down, and his head began to rise up from his legs. Seeing his ministrations working, the fox continued on, **"You said before you wanted to prevent others from living the same life as you have, but how are you going to do that if you just sit there and cry and shut yourself away from the world like that?!" **The catcall managed to provoke Naruto enough that he stood up with indignation present in his stance, only to realize what he had done.

"My apologies for that, Kyuubi-dono," he said, making sure to nurse his healthy fear of the fox. While he understood that the fox was at his mercy for the next nine years, the past two weeks had revitalized him and brought back his own desire to live, so he was definitely willing to be respectful to the kitsune demon, though the youko had awhile back requested to be called by the lesser honorific -dono. Thinking over what he just said and what Itachi had told him about his and Kyuubi's chat, he let his face light up in a fox-like grin and added, "Or would you prefer Kyuubi-sensei?"

"**Kyuubi-dono will do fine,"** the fox demon said, intent on having his container get used to it by force of habit, having plotted for the years ahead on how he would groom another servant. So far, on the outside world his container was improving his physical condition along with getting more nutrients and energy into his body, and his recent acquisition of knowledge was pleasing. It would not do for Kyuubi's status to be reflected by a weakling. Meanwhile, on the inside, Kyuubi had been examining the seal that imprisoned him within that ningen's son. When he had first looked it over, he was impressed at how the Namikaze seal master had truly looked over at every possible outcome. While the Kyuubi retained almost no control over the mortal he was sealed inside of, and could not stop his yokai from being absorbed, he_ could_, with permission from the gaki, send a small continuous amount of his yokai into the gaki's chakra coils.

That would be something that he would talk about in a few years, though. For now, he thought it best if he bring Uzumaki Naruto into the fold of the clan by talking about history. **"In any case, your two new senseis on the outside plane of existence have been teaching you these last two weeks, and you no doubt by now have seen the improvements and results. From now on, every night while your physical body is sleeping, you will be here in the mindscape with me, learning whatever I feel at the time that you need to know. Because your mindscape does not exactly follow physical laws, time can vary, and you can push it up to about an hour in here being only three seconds outside. Therefore, I can teach you for more than just a couple of hours nightly."**

Seeing Naruto nod at the end of every sentence that he understood, the fox carried on, allowing his eyes to move around erratically. **"For tonight, I will not be teaching you anything about that really relates to the shinobi arts. Instead, I will speak about something that heavily relates to you: the history of the bijuu. For time eternity, the realm of demons, known as Makai, and this realm, the realm of you ningens and other beings, were separated. In addition, there are also two more divine realms, Kami's realm and the Shinigami's realm. When a ningen dies, typically the Shinigami comes and takes their soul away. A rare few of extraordinary greatness are invited into Kami's realm. Ningens come and go in the blink of an eye, causing the majority of the work for the Shinigami."**

The Kyuubi no Kitsune paused, his tails swishing behind his rear in an agitated manner, the expression on his vulpine features almost wistful. **"In Makai, however, demons are essentially immortal. With age we only grow more powerful, as opposed to growing old and dying. Ningens cannot kill a demon on their own. That is why they seal them away in others, to prevent them from causing havoc in the mortal realm. There are only three ways to kill a demon: the first is at the hands of another demon, or weapons imbued with demonic or divine power. If you ever sign a summoning contract in your lifetime, you will find when fighting other summons that a summons will not die by your hand, leastways not unless you choose to become a part-demon, something that is possible with my presence, but can die at the hands of another summons. The second," **and here, he focused his gaze on Naruto to emphasise his next point, **"Is to seal a demon into a human being. Some seals won't work, but any seal that forces the souls of the sealed and the vessel to intertwine will kill the demon when the opposite dies."**

Something akin to a shiver passed through the fox's spine, and for a being as large as it was, the shiver was visible as indicated by an intense vibration along its backside. **"And the third way is to summon the Shinigami itself. To be honest, I never thought that that was possible for a mere human to do, but Namikaze Minato was the first to do so, and for such a thing he deserves my respect. Much like I said before, the **Shiki Fūjin **was not permanent on me, as the amount of power the Shinigami puts on it is only proportional to the chakra and lifeforce the user can offer up as a sacrifice. Namikaze was smart, too: under normal circumstances, that kinjutsu would have caused both his and my soul to be devoured by the Shinigami and stuck us in his stomach for an untold amount of time, although not eternity as the Sandaime thought it did."**

Realizing he was going off track, the fox snapped back to attention. **"In any case, Makai is separated from the ninkai realm. While demons are allowed to cross over, any demon that has over a quarter of tail of power will be stripped of any extra power, permanently, which is kept in effect even if they come back to Makai. They can still gain power while in the ninkai realm, however, which is why there are a number of minor lesser demons running around. It is an edict passed down by the gods who govern over the two realms of the living so as to not cause chaos in this world. If that law were not in place, demons would have long ago ravaged this world. Humans, however, cannot go to Makai unless they wish to face certain death, and the means of getting there is far more inconvenient than it is for a demon to leave Makai."**

"**However, about one thousand years ago, Kami finally intervened just once. He took the souls of nine recently deceased animal spirits from the mortal realm, and changed them into demons that could go between the two realms without having to sacrifice a specific amount of power. The nine of us all become tailed demons of ascending order, starting with the one tailed tanuki, and ending with me, the nine-tailed fox. That is not to say that is our fixed-amount of power, however: in the demon realm, the one-tailed tanuki actually has the equivalent of about fifteen tails of power, but when he comes here, he can only keep one tail, but if he returned to Makai he would have all fifteen tails of power again. We are different because we can travel back and forth without all the rules."**

"**We nine were the founders of nine great demon clans in Makai, which are different from the remaining clans because we all draw off the characteristics of our original body. For example, the Ichibi was once a racoon, but his demonization caused some characteristics to change around to become a similar but different entity. I suppose that was somewhat vague, so a better example would be me: I am often called a nine-tailed fox, but that would be inaccurate. I am **_**not**_** a fox, but a kitsune. While we greatly resemble foxes, we are not, as we have the ability to grow multiple tails. There are no non-demonic kitsunes, and there are no demonic foxes: a fox that is changed into a demon will become a kitsune, but it is not simply a fox made a demon. Nevertheless, us kitsunes still feel great kinship with foxes, so you will tend to take on some of the features of a fox, such as those six whiskers on your cheek."**

"**Back to business, we are the only ones able to cross between the two realms with impunity. That is what makes us the bijuu, the feared tailed beasts of this realm. Kami made us the bijuu for a reason, though. A thousand years ago, humans had no idea how to use chakra."** Seeing the look of shock cross Naruto's face, the Kyuubi allowed a devilish grin to cross his own. **"That is right! We were the ones who brought about the dawn of the age of chakra. Monks, shinobi and samurai alike all grew out of the dark age of humanity! We were the one whom gave the Sage of the Six Paths, the Rikudo Sennin, his powers! We were the ones who taught him how to use his powers, which he handed to the next generation, bringing about the existence of clans wielding these powers, and eventually small plots of territories, many groups lands and clans coming together to form the Elemental Nations and Hidden Villages of today!"**

Naruto just sat there, dumbstruck. The legend of the Rikudo Sennin had been one of the few things that he had managed to get around to reading in the last two weeks. It was said that the man was the founder of the ninja world, but he had been a myth for so long. To hear from the words of one of the most powerful beings in existence that he had personally taught the man who was acclaimed as the strongest shinobi to ever live wasn't something that he could reasonably express disbelief in; the Kyuubi had no real reason to live. "So what you're saying then is," he took a few seconds to come up with the right words in his head, "Is that I_ definitely_ shouldn't get on your bad side?"

"**Oh, absolutely!"** The kitsune demon sneered, going for the dramatic effect. **"We nine bijuu gave him a single task at the end of all our training. With all the knowledge and power that we taught and granted him, he was able to use a technique that manipulated gravity. Pulling together debris from outer space and pulling up most of the mountains in Lightning Country, he managed to create the moon!" **The kitsune couldn't help it, he let out a chuckle that broke out into a full-blown laugh. Naruto just sat there dazed all the while, not paying attention, his mind having shut down in trying to comprehend the sheer amount of power that would have been required to create the moon. The kitsune, seeing that Naruto had since lost all conscious thought, pushed the young jinchuuriki out of his mindscape, letting him sleep without a fit.

---

**Whew, hot damn. I had a bit of a tough time writing this chapter, having to lay down the foundation for several concepts, and proofreading being a pain. Most of the difficulty with this chapter was expanding on the idea of chakra systems and usage and reserves beyond "Some people have lots of chakra and some people have lots of efficiency aka control to it", as well as the concept of what exactly make the bijuu **_**bijuu **_**and different from regular demons. Then, of course, I had to read through both of my explanations and smooth it over so I don't have contradictions or plot holes for certain points later on in the story. Then I had to add on descriptions since there were originally points where there were several hundred words of talking without a single thing to break from all that non-stop talking. The part that annoyed me the most was the whole meditation part. On at least half a dozen occasions I just wanted to say 'screw this' and deus-ex-machina Naruto knows how to use chakra the whole thing, but I prevailed.**

**While reading over Ebisu's speech, there were many times that I wanted to fix the disjointed manner of speech, but eventually decided against it. I envision him rushing the words out, trying to say them all at once, not exactly excited, but more of a frantic pace, therefore needing to take several stops as he says his thoughts as soon as he comes up with them, and constantly repeating himself and saying redundant phrases. As for Ebisu, in canon, at the beginning of the story he doesn't really like Naruto, but he soon changes his tune, with Chapter 426 being the culmination of his character. 'Uzumaki Naruto: The True Shinobi' by Gaara the Sandwarrior shows a side of Ebisu that I think he would have if he were ever to be inspired to be more serious than he is in canon.**

**I'd also like to clarify on Naruto's treatment by the villagers, so one doesn't draw the wrong conclusion from what I imply in the main text. Naruto's life isn't some free-for-all punching bag life. He doesn't get assaulted every time with impunity, with the Hokage and a couple of ANBU as his only benefactors. He isn't universally viewed as the demon reincarnate. However, many people still harbour a healthy dislike or hatred of him for the reasons Ebisu supplies, and on weekend nights and festivals, when people drink and get ideas into their heads, they take that hate too far sometimes, and Naruto simply doesn't always have ANBU guards 24/7 (especially not on festivals when they need that manpower elsewhere), and of course some of those who dislike them that are more influential will hire assassins and the like. Sarutobi commands a great amount of power, and he has those who assault Naruto thrown in prison or executed, but he's sometimes far too weak-willed to do what's right until something drastic happens (just see in canon where he doesn't even tell Naruto about the Kyuubi by the time he's 12/13, a fact that could have helped Naruto graduate the academy more easily as soon as he realizes that he needed better chakra control or a technique that used more chakra because the demon in his gut causes him to have too much chakra for a regular bunshin)– therefore he doesn't accept Itachi's whole 'let me train him' spiel until trauma from a runaway festival finally awakes the Kyuubi. In any case, the orphanage matron disliked Naruto, and wouldn't let him interact very much, or have him learn how to read, or even talk well.**

**Finally, Kyuubi's motivations are meant to be secret, with only a few hints dropped here and there as to what they are. He isn't evil, but he's not good either. You'll see as the story progresses.**


	3. A1C3: Childhood

**Arc One: Prelude to Darkness**

**Chapter Three: Childhood**

**One Year Later**

One year had passed since Naruto had started living at Training Ground #46, and he had recently celebrated his sixth birthday. For the first time in his life, he had no reason to fear the mobs, partly because of the layers of security seals on the area, partly because of Itachi's and Ebisu's reports that people had assumed he had either died or ran away from Konoha. With only five people knowing of his location (Naruto having asked Itachi to ask the Hokage to tell the ramen stand owner and his daughter of his ultimate fate), people simply couldn't come after him. His birthday had been a fairly quiet affair, Itachi gifting him with a wooden ninjato resembling the weapons the ANBU used, having noted that he would soon show him the basics of kenjutsu, and Ebisu giving him a couple of books on the lives of the four Hokages. The Sandaime had been unable to visit for his birthday, considering it was the same day as the Kyuubi Festival (though he had been unable to visit for the past two years, at that), but he had sent along several dozen ramen packets.

Ever since his fifth, he had been training to his limits every day. He had put on ten kilograms over the past year, the result being a growth spurt bringing him up to four foot two, his colour gaining some tone, his skin no longer wrapped around his ribs, and his hair gaining its sun-kissed colour after being bleached for so long. The life had truly returned to his cerulean eyes, and it brought hidden delight to the two men that he had taken to calling his nii-sans (to their undying embarrassment) to see him grow like had had.

Itachi had discreetly taken him out of the grounds once to go see a seal master that he trusted, and had a gravity seal applied to Naruto. The seal started out at 1.1x the normal rate of gravity, and would slowly increase over time as his body got used to it with his muscles and bones strengthening to withstand it. A normal person wouldn't ever be able to go beyond 4x in their natural lifetime, but Itachi estimated that Naruto could push upwards of 8x. Additionally, Itachi had moved beyond simple exercises into more elaborate training sessions

Ebisu had gone through most of the history material he had wanted to teach Naruto, the process sped up thanks to the wonders of Kage Bunshin. Because of Naruto's age, he decided to hold off some of the more complicated manners of shinobi, such as the politics of the Hidden Village, and instead began to teach him more general material, such as a basic understanding of the maths and sciences, as well as social interactions with other people at different levels. This, he assured Naruto, would be important if he ever became a shinobi; he had on more than one occasion ranted about two opposing ninja fighting straight-out when one could have simply trapped and assassinated the other beforehand. Finally, with the gain in height and weight, as well as his expending vast amounts of chakra daily before his system could overflow, Naruto's chakra flow began to stabilize, allowing Ebisu to be able to get somewhere with his chakra control. He had recently mastered tree climbing, which was an arduous process: Ebisu hadn't allowed him to consider the exercise as a whole mastered until he could engage his black-clad sensei in a mock fight for half an hour while jumping back and forth from tree to tree, using their surfaces as a fighting arena, and not falling once.

Unlike his two human senseis, however, the Kyuubi had stayed fairly impersonal in his attitude towards Naruto, not really demeaning him aside from the constant use of 'gaki', but more seemingly treating him as an uncommanded servant of sorts. The fox had, at his own request, changed Naruto's mindscape to resemble that of a fox den, and the seal to nine tail rings, one for each tail, something to which the jinchuuriki readily gave permission for, easily understanding why the kitsune wouldn't want to live in the cage and sewers. Naruto didn't complain about the Kyuubi's attitude, however; the tales the kitsune regaled him with of his own clan in the world of Makai intrigued him, and he understood quite well that he was possibly the only human living who would know some of the stuff the Kyuubi told him about. He also learned about much of the rest of Makai, and the norms of demon society. To be truthful, while it still hurt to remember past incidents of people hurling various insults at him, the scars left by the word 'demon' had since faded thanks to his understanding of what exactly made a demon. While he understood people meant to use the term to demean him, he was no longer mollified by it, since in his own odd way he had found the concept of a demon as comparable with a human, and the indifference of the single demon he had come into contact with was far better than the cruelty inflicted by the vast majority of humans he had met.

In the meantime, Naruto had time and again thought to ask Kyuubi about his reasons as to why he attacked Konoha, but each time refrained from doing so. He had enough tact not to ask: the kitsune demon probably had his reasons, otherwise he would have told Naruto soon after their second meeting without needing to be asked. Naruto had his suspicions about whether or not Itachi and Sarutobi knew the real truth, considering how they were letting the Kyuubi teach him. He brushed it up to a matter of his age and hoped that the fox (even if he knew the technical difference, he still had a hard time not thinking of him as a fox) would eventually reveal things in time.

---

Itachi was nervous. It wasn't because he was fighting off several skilled enemies, or having large amounts of paperwork to fill out in his role as an ANBU Captain (even with Kage Bunshins at his disposal). No, he was anguished because with rising security problems and border conflicts with Ta no Kuni and the recently formed Otogakure, as well as the alliance between Konohagakure and Sunagakure running into problems thanks to the foolish daimyo of Kaze no Kuni, the Hokage had recently ordered him to live at the ANBU HQ on a permanent basis. This was so he could focus some more on his regular duties and to have him in the village proper in case of an attack. While he could deal with reducing his training time with Naruto, he didn't want to leave somebody who had begun to feel like a second otouto to him to live on his own again. What really galled him, however, was having to admit to himself that Naruto was perfectly capable of living independently, despite being only six.

Fine, he could deal with that. But what he couldn't deal with was the possibility of Naruto's reaction being negative. He had practically spoiled Sasuke rotten when his blood brother was born, and Sasuke had returned the favour by both worshipping him, and at the same time seeing Itachi as something he had to surpass, so he could emerge from the shadow of the Uchiha Prodigy. He was perfectly fine with that; even he realized that others would surpass him, but he would not make it easy for anyone to do so. But Sasuke didn't have the same values as he and Naruto possessed, those of hard work and the will to succeed, and he didn't want to screw up Naruto by disrupting the fine equilibrium of his life. But it had to be done, so he would say it and get over with.

Still, it was difficult, when he had to approach Naruto about it. "Naruto, I need to talk to you about something." As soon as the words left his mouth, he was mentally hitting himself for them, but he kept his stoic poker-face on all the time. To his own credit, Naruto could immediately tell something was up, but allowed Itachi to finish what he had come to say. "The Hokage has ordered me to relocate my living space back to the ANBU Headquarters."

Even a few months ago, while still emotionally vulnerable, Naruto might have been kicking and screaming over Itachi no longer living with him. Now, however, he took a few seconds and thought over the exact nature of Itachi's words – while Itachi had said that he was no longer living with Naruto, he never said anything about not training him. "But Itachi-niisan, he never said anything about you not training me anymore, did he?"

Itachi allowed a small smile, contrary to his stoic nature. Truly his otouto was growing up finely, already being able to look behind the words in some small measure. "Yes, that is correct. As for my reasons, in his teachings, has Ebisu kept you up-to-date on any very recent happenings in Fire Country?" A shake of the head indicated no. "Well then, there are two things that are going on that are unstabilizing political relations, and so ANBU is taking precautionary measures by strengthening security and increasing border patrols. I am an ANBU captain, and while the Hokage's orders to train you are still in effect, my time with you must be cut down to dedicate towards my regular ANBU duties. Furthermore, the Hokage hasn't ruled out the possibility of a direct invasion or infiltration of Konoha proper, hence I am needed to stay there in the case of an attack. While I enjoy living here, the half hour it takes to go between here and Konoha at my top speed is twenty-five minutes too late for an emergency response."

Naruto could indeed accept that. However, much like all six-year-old children (and especially once who carries a thousand-year-old kitsune tailed demon in his head), he would get out as much as he could from the situation, so he slumped his shoulder and allowed his head to fall, looking down at the ground. Unfortunately for him, he was facing an ANBU captain, trained in all manners of deception, who knew very well what he was doing. Nevertheless, Itachi played along as a last solace. "Now now, don't do that. Tell you what: pick up the mood and get onto your exercises, and I'll go get pick-up for some ramen for dinner tonight, from Ichiraku."

That picked up Naruto's mood immediately, who with a short "Yatta!" hopped off to the small lake, intent on furthering his ability to stay on top of water's surface. The day was a windy, cool one in comparison to the usually calm, warm days that summer in Fire Country had to offer. As a result, the water was more turbulent than usual, so Naruto had a difficult time at first, his feet falling underneath the surface twice, before he managed to right himself and stay on top. Itachi merely chuckled to himself as the sun-kissed lad sat down, and started doing pushups on the water, hand occasionally dipping into the cool lake. Moments like these, he thought, were at least worth the hardships that life brought all of them.

---

The mask-clad ANBU captain refrained from letting out a sigh as he walked over to Ichiraku Ramen after having met with the Hokage, along with Ebisu. The old man had been pleased with his report on Naruto's progress, but things were coming to a standstill: what were they to do with Naruto? Between him, Ebisu and the Kyuubi, he had proven himself to already be beyond the level of most Academy graduates, sans for his actual physique (hard worker or not, a six-year-old simply didn't have the same physical strength as a twelve-year-old would). Thanks to a very demanding training schedule and the wonders of Kage Bunshin and Kyuubi's healing yokai, as well as shaving off some of the more unnecessary parts of the academic material, Itachi estimated him as already being a mid-level Genin, and with another year he would definitely be approaching low Jonin levels. By the time he was eight, he would definitely be skilled enough to be a member of ANBU. But that was what troubled them all: should they let Naruto continue to progress and become a ninja early, or allow him some semblance of a normal childhood?

Itachi had nipped the argument of giving him a childhood in the bud fairly quickly, simply by pointing out that Naruto never had a real childhood, he never would have a normal childhood, and the past year so far _was_ his childhood. Another two to three years of training would be the only childhood that Naruto could possibly have, and he had been sure to drive that argument home with the Sandaime. Finally, he didn't really think Naruto could make it on a normal three-man Genin team; his sponge-like habits in terms of learning and the side-effects of Kage Bunshin practically demanded a private trainer to keep up with his training pace.

So absorbed in his thoughts he was, Itachi didn't even register his unconscious movements as he threw aside the curtains that barred the full fury of the midday sun from the inside of Ichiraku Ramen. As such, when a voice interrupted his thoughts, he was completely unprepared for what he saw.

"Excuse me, ANBU-san, what can I get you?"

The originator of the voice was a pretty young girl with long, light brown hair, two bangs curving out from her forehead forming a widow's peak. A white bandana was tied behind her head to keep her hair together, and she wore a white robe/apron hybrid, the color presumably to hide the flour that stained it all over. Itachi idly identified her as the twelve-year-old Ayame Ichiraku, daughter of Teuchi Ichiraku, the owner of the stand.

So engrossed in marvelling over her Itachi was that he was again brought out of a daze by a flustered Ayame, who had coughed lightly but made it distinct enough to once more obtain his attention. Itachi had the decency to look apologetic, before making to order, "Ah, my apologies, Ichiraku-san. I would like for takeout three orders each of chicken, beef, and miso."

Ayame let out a low whistle at the size of the order, acknowledging his request before turning around and preparing nine bowls of ramen. Given that Itachi was the only customer in the shop, she decided to make small talk with him to pass the time. "Nine orders, eh? Can't say I get many ANBU here this time of day, they usually prefer to come in either early or late at night. I suppose it's understandable, since they like to keep secret while out in public." The conversation was one-sided, but she continued on in hopes of getting a response out of him. "I suppose you're either an Akimichi or know one considering the size of your order."

"Actually," Itachi drawled, snapping out of the minor hypnosis cast by the soft and gentle tones of his fellow conversationalist's voice, "This order is just for two of us, I'm an Uchiha, and my friend is a little maelstrom of chaos." He punctuated his words by taking off his mask to reveal the trademark onyx eyes and black hair of the Uchiha head family. He wasn't on duty so he wasn't required to keep his mask on.

Ayame quickly recognized the maelstrom reference, and spun around to interrogate him. She quickly dropped her spatula in shock at seeing the heir to the Uchiha clan in her family's ramen shop. Realizing her actions, she blushed and squawked at the same time, and scurried to throw the now-contaminated spatula into the sink and obtain a replacement. Turning to Itachi, she began to apologize, only to be cut off by the Uchiha prodigy, "No need to apologize there, and please, no formalities. Just call me Itachi."

Ayame took heed to his request, "Alright then, Itachi, but can I ask how Naruto is doing? I haven't seen him in nearly a year. The Hokage has been kind enough to provide us with updates from time to time, but he hasn't sent us any of his handlers, or mentors I guess. Is he being too much of a handful for you? Does he still devour ramen at an unprecedented pace, and eat with the manners of a pig?" She excitedly rushed out while preparing the ramen.

Itachi nearly sweatdropped at the sudden shift from a shy, timid girl to a bubbly, upbeat girl. He was just glad that she wasn't descended from the Haruno clan, of which he had recently learned had a large family history of schizophrenia and bipolar personalities rivalling some of the madness that was inherent in the Uchiha clan's own history. He made an involuntary shiver that was missed by the ramen waitress as he remembered his talk with the Kyuubi a year past, when the nine-tailed fox had commented on how a 'sinister' quality of the Uchiha seemed to be less present in him than usual. Itachi idly began to wonder if this was related to the insanity that seemed to be prevalent amongst the shinobi and police forces.

Ten minutes later, Itachi walked out of the ramen stand with his weasel mask on once more, toting a large bag of ramen in his left hand. He suddenly froze as a thought occurred to him. _Kami, I hope Naruto doesn't kill me when he comes back if he sees me and Ayame having as pleasant and relaxed a conversation as that again!_

---

Ebisu's sunglasses were off.

Ebisu never took his sunglasses off in public, so they only came off when he retired to his home for the night, losing them in a fight, or from shock. The circumstance in this case was the latter of the trio. It had come from a mock spar with Naruto while fighting on water to help the latter get used to movement on water. During the spar, Naruto had used a quick Henge to increase his height and the length of his arms to better counter the advantage Ebisu had in his much longer reach. Ebisu had in the flicker of a half-second decided to hit Naruto square on the chest, dispel the Henge, and then lecture Naruto on the properties of the Henge; namely, that it created an _illusion_, and didn't actually change the physical qualities of the user.

That didn't happen, however. True, Ebisu did manage to sock Naruto on the chest and send him sprawling across the water onto solid ground. What didn't occur was the Henge disappearing. While Ebisu was still gawking at the scene, his glasses floating on the water underneath his feet, Naruto groaned as he picked himself up, brushing the grass off his shinobi pants. "Neh, Ebisu-niisan, did you hafta hit so hard?"

"N-Naruto," Ebisu stammered, "Uh, Naruto-kun, I need to check something for a second." Naruto complied with the request, even if he found it odd, as Ebisu walked over and grabbed his arms. He slid his fingers all the way from the shoulder to the hand, still not quite believing it. Bending his knees, he prodded the younger's feet and thighs, mumbling all the time, "Can't be possible...a true physical transformation...could be a bloodline, not much information on the Uzumaki clan...they originated from Whirlpool, which was destroyed a decade ago...or possible the Kyuubi's power...kitsunes are renowned for their transformation powers...hmm, Hokage-sama might know...interesting indeed..." All the while, Naruto tried to interrupt Ebisu's train of thought, until he heard the phrases 'bloodline' and 'Kyuubi's power', and promptly shut up, leaving the black-clothed man to his ramblings.

Ebisu paused as he brought up his right index and middle finger to push his glasses back up onto his nose, only to realize the lack of glasses to sustain his habit. Turning around, he grabbed his floating glasses out of the water, used his shirt to dry them off, then put them back on. Turning back to face Naruto, he continued, "Naruto-kun, do you know exactly what a Henge does?"

Naruto blinked, surprised at the question. "Uh, yeah. It basically allows you to transform into something else." He was confused at Ebisu's asking of such a basic academic question.

Ebisu just sighed. Leave it to Naruto to completely skim over the most important function of a given jutsu in his studies. "You are half-correct there, Naruto-kun. The Henge is supposed to give off the _illusion_ of a transformation." Seeing the slightly confused look on Naruto's face once he began to piece together the conflict between a proper Henge and his usage of it, Ebisu continued, "The Henge is in a sense more genjutsu than ninjutsu, as you do not actually physically change form. Instead, you give off the impression of being whatever you changed into to your opponent, and the only way to dispel that illusion is movement, sending out a chakra pulse or physical contact when the person using the Henge. Because dispelling an opponent's Henge doesn't follow the exact same methods as one normally would do to dispel a genjutsu, that is why the Henge is categorized as a ninjutsu."

By this time, the black-clad man was pacing back and forth, causing a minor cloud of dust to form underneath his sandals. "You, on the other hand, defy that completely. When you used what you thought was the Henge, you actually increased your height, and your arms _did_ in fact become longer. The _why_ to that is something I am not 100% sure about. The Sandaime professes to having no knowledge of who your parents were, so I doubt that it is an effect of a kekkei genkai." He then stopped, and peered closely at Naruto who was standing shock-still at the news that he had effectively bastardized a very basic jutsu with interesting results. "It occurs to me, however, that the lore that surrounds kitsune demons suggests that they are masters of illusions and transformations. You do not have any real proficiency for genjutsus, but that seems to be because of your poor chakra control, rather than any lack of chakra control; hence, I am assuming that your ability to physically change form is a result of the kitsune lord being sealed into your navel." Having completely laid out all the possibilities he could think of and dissecting the only two probable possibilities, he concluded, "You speak to the Kyuubi from time to time, I believe." A frown crossed his face at this. The Sandaime Hokage wasn't willing to tell him _what_ exactly the reason behind the Kyuubi attack was, but only said that it wasn't the Kyuubi's own fault. While he trusted Sarutobi, it was still a bit hard to get over his own natural fear of a being of such immense power. "When you talk next time, please find out what you can."

Dumbfounded, Naruto just nodded, ensuring that he would get to the bottom of this newfound ability.

---

"**Of course, gaki,"** the Kyuubi said in response to Naruto's questioning about his ability to physically transform. **"You did not think that those whisker marks that adorn your cheeks and regenerative powers were the only things my presence would grant you, did you? I took a look at what your mentor said, and he was correct on his theory."**

Naruto shrugged, nonchalantly. To be truthful, he had never really thought about it. "Well, I can accept that being the case. But now that you mention it, why exactly does all this occur, and what other surprises will I be getting in the future?"

The giant demon, who was currently laying down at the time, got up and stretched his rear legs. **"To answer your first question, your chakra has, in a sense, begun to imitate my yokai over the years. The most noticeable point is regeneration; while not nearly as strong as my yokai in that manner, your chakra alone will be able to regenerate cuts, bruises, and shallow wounds and very small fractures, and it will get stronger in that effect in the future. At the same time, each demon clan has individual traits to their yokai. The kitsunes obviously had an inherent strength at illusions, and so again your chakra tries to imitate this. The nekomata clan has unparalleled control over fire, and so forth. As for what other traits you might gain, gaki,"** and here the kitsune paused, **"I really don't know."**

Seeing Naruto's jaw drop, the demon quickly cut him off before he could begin. **"I do not know because I believe I am the first kitsune to have been sealed into a ningen." **Looking closely, Naruto swore he could see a slight red tinge cross the nine-tailed's already crimson face.** "At the least, I do not recall any kitsune crossing over from Makai in the last two hundred years. There is another aspect to your situation, however; I have nine tails of power. No-tails that get sealed only really give off maybe a physical trait to their vessel, a minor boost in chakra, and minor regenerative powers. With the tailed beasts, they provide more yokai to their hosts, therefore the effects of their yokai becomes more pronounced, and more so as the number of tails increases." **The fox made a motion that seemed akin to a shrug.** "The Hachibi was sealed about twenty-five years ago for the first time, but I only met his vessel in his early childhood, and the only characteristics that had begun to emerge at the time were great physical strength and a near invulnerability to lightning. The Shichibi was first sealed about two hundred years ago, but every time it was freed it has been quickly resealed, causing a drain on her power, and I have not gotten around to finding her or her current vessel. The Rokubi tends to stay in Makai, and by the time you get to the Gobi and under, they simply do not have as much raw strength."**

The fox leaned in close, pushing out his front legs as he stretched out his spine, tails pointing rigidly upwards. **"You did not actually get those whisker-like marks the moment I was sealed into you. Rather, they replaced your regular skin tissue on your cheeks over time, and my guess is that they will probably deepen over time. The only other physical trait you might gain are your pupils turning into slits. Your personality might shift a bit to being somewhat of a prankster, as we kitsunes love our tricks, although I can already tell you are at least decently clever; that also includes a carefree nature." **The nine-tails paused in a slight hesitation before continuing. **"You know though, you are not actually completely human." **

Naruto flinched at that. While some of the psychological scars of the past had since faded away, it still did pain him a few times to think of himself as inhuman. Yet, the kitsune had broken the news relatively lightly, detailing several effects as a result of the seal; after learning how his chakra was beginning to imitate the demon's yokai, he wasn't too shocked. Still, he needed more clarification. "What do you mean by that, though?"

Kyuubi looked slightly annoyed. **"I mean exactly what I meant, gaki! I just told you that all that yokai flowing through your body since your day of birth caused some changes to your body. Oh, calm down! The amount of yokai that goes through your body at any one time is too minimal; combined with the absorption process, you will be at the most one-eighth demon fox, so your human side will still be dominant."**

"Hmm," was all Naruto had to say in response, satisfied that he would still be mostly human and not allow ignorant bigots to actually be vindicated, although thinking about it, he wasn't wholly uncomfortable with the whole idea. Deciding to mull it over later, he requested a leave, considering the chat as the lecture of the night.

**One Year Later**

A heavy, frantic knock rang off the mahogany door that linked the Hokage's personal office to the rest of the Hokage Tower. The four ANBU, one in each corner, tensed slightly in case of a possible threat, and failed to relax when Sarutobi issued a "Come in" to the knocker. He was surprised to see an Itachi Uchiha enter with emotion on his face, in particular worry and fear. Itachi Uchiha _never_ looked worried or feared. Sarutobi raised an eyebrow at this apocalyptical omen, but before he could ask what was wrong, Itachi rushed out the words he wanted to say, "Hokage-sama, I have an update on the Amegakure conflict!"

The Sandaime narrowed his eyes. A few weeks ago, info from Jiraiya's spy network came in on Amegakure. Ruled by Hanzo the Salamander for over two decades, it was the most isolated country in the Elemental Nations despite being the geographical center of the continent. Knowledge of the going-ons in Ame simply did not come in or out, so it had been a surprise to hear that Amegakure was in a civil war. Obviously, any new information other than there being a civil war was something that was justifiable by barging into the Hokage's personal office.

But Sarutobi knew that Itachi was talking about the Ame to throw off the ANBU in his office. In reality, the Uchiha captain shouldn't have garnered any new information pertaining to the situation with Hanzo's domain, as he was supposed to be staying in Konoha for a week to prep his squad for a month long mission up north; therefore, he was using the Ame situation as a cover. Having sensed the deception, he motioned to his subordinates to temporarily leave the office. Putting up a privacy jutsu to block off all sound and vibrations from leaving the room, he stared at Itachi, his look telling the young prodigy to start talking.

Itachi took the prompt and started talking, "Forgive me for deceiving you, Hokage-sama, but this is of a matter greater than the Amegakure conflict." Seeing that his leader had already figured as much, he continued talking on, "It's about the Uchiha clan, Hokage-sama. From the information I have gathered, my father Fugaku and the clan elders plan to overthrow the Hokage

That only elicited a sigh from the Third Hokage. He had suspected that something was going on with the Uchiha clan ever since a year ago: it had begun with a few inconsistencies had begun to show up in the police department management. Since then, the number of Uchiha ninja out on missions had begun to dwindle, with those in Konoha either staying within the city walls entirely or being sent out only on short, minor missions or temporary patrols. Fugaku, the clan head himself, had requested that Itachi return from his 'undercover mission', a request Sarutobi was forced to grant due to political pressure. Itachi was one of Sarutobi's most trusted retainers, but had consistently deceived the Uchiha clan into believing he was an Uchiha first, a citizen of Konoha second, an attitude that was unfortunately prevalent in the Uchiha clan. Fortunately, since Itachi's return, he had been drawn into the more internal affairs of the clan, something that boded well for Sarutobi, who desperately needed a mole to find out more about what was happening with the Uchiha.

Itachi continued, "From the information I have gathered in the past week, currently they plan on smuggling in large amounts of explosive tags over the next two years, and recruiting all able-bodied Uchiha above the age of twelve and training them on the various security protocols the Leaf has in place to bypass them."

The Hokage paled at this news. The Uchiha clan had over three hundred people, and while a good majority of them were civilians, elderly or children, there were still at least a hundred shinobi in the force, and another hundred policemen. Additionally, while the Konoha ninja forces dwarfed what the Uchiha had to offer, they could always strike when most higher-ranked ninja were out of Konoha. With Itachi supposedly on their side, they could deal with an remaining ANBU and jonin, and the Hokage, no matter how powerful he was, would be vulnerable. Sarutobi mulled over the situation, then came to the conclusion: he would try to make peace overtures with Fugaku. If that failed, then he would have to go for a more drastic maneuver. Before that occurred, however, he needed more information. "Very well. For now, please find as much information as you can on any illicit dealings within your Clan. Make recordings of any proof that you find, but do your best to make it seem you're on their side."

Itachi's lip curled down in a menacing scowl, and Sarutobi knew that there _was_ something else that he had found. The white-cloaked man beat him to the punch, however. "In fact, I have. On no less than six occasions the Uchiha clan has hired assassins, all for the same target: one Uzumaki Naruto."

The monkey man clenched his hands together and relaxed his chin on his finger joints, distraught from the news. "I see. Under what reasoning do they feel they need to send assassins after our young prodigy here? And do you have any damning evidence, or was it only hearsay at your meeting?" Although he had an idea of what the motivation was, he wanted to be positive instead of making an estimate at the Uchiha clan's reasons.

"They haven't been targeting Naruto because 'he's the demon', if that is what you are thinking, Hokage-sama." Itachi sighed, another thing he rarely did. In fact, if it were just news of the coup d'etat plan, he would have been calm, but it was mainly the attempted assassinations of Naruto, somebody that he indeed had begun to consider his otouto that had his emotions volatile. Ayame was another concern: in the last year since he had first met her at Ichiraku Ramen, he had gone back constantly on his own free time and often talked to her. Although they weren't exactly boyfriend/girlfriend, they were getting close, and he didn't like to think of the hellish life a 'commoner' would live under the reign of the Uchiha. "Rather, they see the sheer amount of power that he wields as a threat to their own power, with enough potential to surpass even me." He said that with disgust. Between keeping Naruto from being adopted and trying to assassinate him, he was beginning to despise the clan. He and Shisui were the only ones that tried to test their limits and then surpass it, while the rest of the clan wallowed in their own arrogance and pre-emptively tried to put down anything that had a possibility of overwhelming them. He nearly shuddered, thinking of what Naruto might have been like if it were not for the combination of factors that allowed him to finally escape into the thralls of Training Ground #46. He might have ended up as a loudmouth dead-last who wore semi-bright orange jumpsuits while going around shouting out nonsensical phrases like "Dattebayo!"

There was more to what he had to report, however, and Itachi didn't find it pretty. "Unfortunately, all I have is hearsay. The exact line one of the elders said during the meeting was, 'I can't believe that demon brat escaped our last six assassins!' Fortunately, they do not yet have any idea as to where he has been during the last two years, which has confounded them, despite having two people working full-time looking for his whereabouts." A frown finally crossed his face. This last piece he definitely didn't like. "Sadly, I have grounds to believe that the Hyuga clan may have cooperated with one of the attempts."

That caught the Hokage's attention. Having heard the Uchiha clan's motivations, he guessed that it was the same for the Hyuga clan, but it would be a lot more difficult for to ascertain the identities of the perpetrators amongst the Hyuga. Meanwhile, the ones he already suspected – the clan elders and Hyuga Hiashi, who had called for the boy's execution at his birth – would be difficult to dig up any incriminating dirt on. He sighed. _What a troublesome job this is becoming. Corruption so rooted in some of the clans that they are constantly trying to assassinate a civilian boy simply because he might threaten the status quo._

Pushing his reading glasses up on his nose, he ordered Itachi, "You are dismissed, captain."

"Hai," responded the weasel-masked ANBU, who turned around and left the office.

The Hokage got up out of his chair, and disabled the privacy jutsu surrounding the office. With that gone, he went over to a storage cabinet and obtained a new quill pen and a blank scroll. Setting both of them down on his desk, he got to writing a letter, addressed to one of his wayward former students, before summoning a monkey summon to deliver it by sending it off to the toads in the realm all the summons resided in.

---

"Um, Ebisu-niisan?" Came the petulant whine from the blond jinchuuriki.

"Yes, what is it Naruto-kun?" Ebisu asked, hoping for a good question. After all, some of the questions Naruto had when it came to training had often forced him to think them over before answering, a slight embarrassment resulting from not completely knowing the answer, a slight tinge of pleasure from becoming more knowledgeable.

"When doing handseals for a jutsu, is there any way to skip a handseal for a jutsu?"

Now that was an excellent question, and it was something that Ebisu had indeed put a bit of research into in the past. "Well, Naruto-kun, it is in fact possible to skip a handseal in a seal sequence for a jutsu. With enough practice, you could even pull of a jutsu without once using any handseals whatsoever." Seeing the look of awe crossing the wide-eyed boy, he continued. "Allow me to elaborate. When you do your Kage Bunshin, is there ever a distinct _feel_ to your chakra?"

Naruto thought it over, then put his hands in a cross shape, creating a pair of Kage Bunshins, before dissipating them, leaving nothing behind but for a whiff of smoke. "Now that you mention it, there is. It feels somewhat like a burst of chakra that travels up from my feet up my body before exiting out the top of my hand."

Ebisu allowed a smile, and then nodded. "Correct. When you perform handseals, each handseal causes a small manipulation to your flow of chakra, and the series of manipulations is what makes up a jutsu. If you can internally force this manipulation, then you don't have to do its opposing handseal. The Kage Bunshin will actually be one of the easier techniques that you know to do sealless, simply because it has only one seal and you have had lots of practice with it. Other jutsus are a lot tougher. For example, the _**Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu **_has forty-two handseals to it, but you know what? If you can skip even six of those handseals, you can finish it a half-second quicker than somebody going through the full forty-two handseals. If you can skip even one handseal, you can completely negate the copying ability of the Uchiha clan's Sharingan. "

"But let me give you another example. Take your basic Kawarimi. Most people never really think about how it works, they just use it. Your handseals don't actually replace you; rather, they create a chakra string, which you then attach to a nearby object. Using the properties of the chakra string, you switch the ends of the chakra string. The physics of how it is done does not really matter that much, but the important part is the chakra strings: while most rely on handseals to make chakra strings, they can actually manually be created. Suna is famous for its puppeteers, who use ten chakra strings, one for each finger, to manipulate a puppet. Then, if your opponents do not see you do the handseals for Kawarimi, they won't be expecting to hit a block of wood."

Ebisu waited a few minutes for Naruto to take in all this new strategic information, only to nearly facefault when the latter cheekily started off with "Sugoi!"

"Well, in any case, Naruto-kun, I _highly_ recommend you _never_ try to experiment with skipping handseals with your own physical body. As you might imagine, a single error in manual chakra manipulation can backfire. The potential is there for any backlash to fry your chakra system, crippling you from being a ninja even with regenerative powers, as well as the possibility of death. Always use a Kage Bunshin to experiment." With his warning said, he walked over to his pack, grabbing some scrolls, ready to start the next lesson of the day.

A few weeks after Ebisu had impressed on Naruto the importance of not using his physical body for chakra experimentation, the Kyuubi had an odd proposal for Naruto.

When Naruto had entered his mindscape, he was expecting another impromptu discussion on the kitsune clan or the bijuus, but what he hadn't expected was for the nine-tails to be sitting on his haunches, tails swishing about, with a contemplative look on his face. It was apparent that he knew Naruto was there, but other than that, he seemed to be off in his own little world. As the minutes passed, Naruto's patience evaporated. Fed-up as he was, however, he still managed a calm tone as he asked, "Kyuubi-dono, is something wrong?"

To his credit, the past year of training helped as he jumped back as opposed to stumbling when the Kyuubi lunged his neck at him, jaw snapping in a vile hiss. The jailer put his hands up in a submissive gesture, unsure as to what was bothering his prisoner, but was sure that he would soon find out. **"Quiet, gaki! I am trying to think here!" **In truth, the Kyuubi had already decided what he was about to do next, but was currently mulling over the ramifications it could have for the future. Deciding to think it over later while he didn't have company present, he turned his attention to his vessel. **"I have a request to make of you, gaki."**

Naruto swallowed a deep gulp, a lump forming in his throat. The nine-tailed kitsune demon wasn't exactly a friend and most definitely was _not_ a niisan, but he was still an odd sort of acquaintance that had at least been helping him out, so if the request was reasonable, he would fulfill it to the best of his abilities. Truth be told, he would do it anyways regardless of their camaraderie or not; the past year had done much for his psyche, and Naruto wanted to live now, and he most definitely wanted to live past his fourteenth birthday as well. "What would you have me do, Kyuubi-dono?" He managed to force out through his fear of a possibly angry Kyuubi.

Whatever doubts the vulpine demon had, they were vanquished as he restrained a smirk at how utterly whipped his container was. While it was an embarrassment to have been sealed away in a newborn infant, _especially_ the son of the one whom sealed him, he had plotted to salvage the most out of the situation, and at this pace it looked like his plans would come to fruition without a hitch. For now, he would further an aspect of his scheme by influencing the gaki's mentality. **"It is actually a simple request. You understand to a degree that the nature of the seals that protects your residency prevents any who have not made a proper blood sacrifice from entering this area, correct?"** A small nod indicated a yes. **"However, the seals that bar others from this area only works on humans, meaning that animals can come and go without restriction."** A dumb look on Naruto's face showed his desire for the Kyuubi to get to the point. **"Even in my prison here, I have had a minor sense of the outside world, and the kinship I can feel with my counterpart species still holds strong. Recently, a small family of foxes has taken residence in a nearby cave. I want you to, for lack of a better term, raise them."**

The young blue-eyed blond let a blink slip, with a second blink moments later, before he allowed himself to gape as the Kyuubi's request/demand made itself clear. He tried to work up a coherent response; unfortunately, all he could come up with was a shrill "NANI?!"

The Kyuubi snapped back at him, **"I do not literally mean to raise them as pets. Rather, I want to you to watch out for them.** **Konoha has not treated foxes well in the last six years, and I have felt the local population dwindle to a tenth of its original population. What I want you to do is watch out for their well-being. Bring them food during the drier months or when the females are in heat, kill off any predators, increase the comfort of their den and its security. Anything you can do to promote the growth of the family and decrease the mortality rates." **Letting out a sigh at the fate of his non-demonic kin in the greater Konoha area, he continued on. **"I will have to ask permission of you to be able to communicate with you while you are conscious on the outside so I can direct you once you hit the den. In return, while they shouldn't run away from you because you smell like me, you will still have to channel some of my yokai to get them to accept you."**

Naruto nodded at that last comment, accepting the inevitability of the situation. He had found out a few months earlier that if he were to ever channel the kitsune's yokai, normally it would cause the seal to loosen, but that there was a single loophole in the seal where the Kyuubi could allow him to use a small amount of without weakening the seal at all. Kyuubi himself was originally planning to use this loophole for himself in a few years, but once he found out this secondary effect, gave Naruto the chance to try the yokai out a few times in practice for if he ever bit off more than he could chew and needed a trump card.

Now, an external observer might think that the Kyuubi would _want_ the seal to weaken. However, the vulpine was cautious, and had examined the seal that held him many times. While he understood its inner workings and understood it for the most part, he had also realized that the seal merely gave instructions on the imprisonment of the fox and its rent conditions, while the Shinigami's power was the enforcer of these instructions. He didn't want to find out what would happen if the instructions were to disappear while he was still imprisoned in the young Naruto Uzumaki, so he erred on the side of caution and let it be.

Naruto didn't know about all this, however, nor did he really think about it. All he knew was that the seal depended to a degree on his own willpower; hence, he could give the Kyuubi some degree of freedom by simply willing it, and already had by allowing the fox to manipulate the manner of his cage and Naruto's own mindscape, as well as full access to his own memories. This all paled to the first thing he did for the fox, however, which was allowing the Kyuubi to pull him into his own mindscape. This allowed him to skip meditation at night, efficiently entering his mindscape as soon as he went to bed, and he trusted the kitsune not to abuse that power. Having already done this, it would be reasonable to let the fox communicate with him mentally on the outside world, and if he became annoyed or needed his thoughts to be private, he could always shut the fox out. "Very well, I will allow you to communicate mind-to-mind with me while on the outside world."

While Naruto made a hasty exit from the mindscape, his already ghost-like image fading away into a mere misty apparition, the Kyuubi bared his teeth in a cocky grin. Yes, with this latest success he would definitely get something worthwhile out of this whole fiasco of being sealed.

**End chapter author notes here (wow I didn't start off with 'whew'!). I originally intended to do a chapter every week, but due to me being a deadbeat and university exams coming up very quick here, I'm delaying it to once every two weeks (with the next one in particular not coming until the beginning of May thanks to time shortages). In any case, sorry to leave you guys on a bit of a cliffhanger there, but I was on writing burnout and didn't want to leave people hanging for another month for **_**any**_** content.**

**In any cases, a few notes again for this chapter.**

**The first thing is a little bit of a rant: at the beginning, I have Itachi place a gravity seal on Naruto that increases the **_**feel**_** of gravity on his body to 1.1x normal gravity. This causes all his bones, muscles, tendons, etc. to strengthen themselves to get used to the extra gravitational force acting on them. 4x was a rough estimate given an assumed average body weight of 100 lb (at least as far as all manga and animes like to estimate their characters at; seriously, twelve-year-old kunoichis weighing 60 lb or less?); while there are certainly 400 pound people walking around, most of them will have their legs give out sooner or later, but somebody whose body has strengthened gradually to that point (and still keeps the right body shape, aka gut not hanging out) wouldn't have that problem (much). Of course thanks to regenerative powers h4x Naruto can do up to 8x. I like to feel this is a lot more realistic than some fanfictions where I see them be all "ok let's randomly add 100 lb to each limb never mind the fact he only weighs like 70lb".**

**During the part where Naruto and Ebisu talk about handseals and 'hand-clenching' seals as opposed to 'finger moved' seals, I invite you to take a look at the diagram of the twelve main handseals.**

**Some seals, like monkey, dog, boar and rabbit basically are just clenching your fists together with maybe one or two fingers interlocked in a straight manner. Meanwhile, all the others would be far more difficult to execute (Ox being the only easy one) because of all the various positions the fingers would be in. So if a ninja was doing handseals, it's the remaining seven handseals that would be a pain in the rear end to do because they're just not as simple.**

**Ebisu's whole explanation on skipping handseals and chakra manipulation is also important. For one thing, it puts in a whole new layer of complexity on chakra and jutsus beyond 'just do a bunch of handsigns and get a powerful jutsu', and to a degree applies some actual logic to how they work. Something I'm doing in this story is drilling in the point that the best weapon of a shinobi is deception and surprises (in this case, surprises). The examples Ebisu provides are exactly what I'm talking about here.**

**In any case, I also fixed up a few lines in the first chapter regarding my somewhat AUish version of Kyuubi's seal to clarify a few technicalities that'll be fairly important overall. The power of the Shinigami **_**keeps**_** the Kyuubi in the seal, but that doesn't mean the seal itself is impenetrable. Therefore, if the seal were to just dissolve at random all the**_** effects**_** the seal causes would be gone, but Kyuubi wouldn't be free from Naruto (so none of that 'oh my I'll summon his soul out via a Kage Bunshin' crap), which is why. One more thing to note is that the power of the seal is based to a degree on the vessel's willpower, so if Kyuubi wants to change the mindscape and Naruto says yes, he can do that (as is done in this chapter). This isn't too important right now, but in a few chapters it'll be a key point.**

**Also, yes, Naruto's going to become a bit more acquainted with foxes, yes, there's implications of Kyuubi having schemed to get something out of being sealed, yes, it's all a bit fluffy. Naruto in canon has always had a bit of a 'kitsune'-like personality, being a prankster. Since he's an orphan, it also means there isn't really any pressure on him either, meaning he's free to do what he wants. If one associates elemental chakra with a user's personality, then you can probably say Naruto being a wind user means he's fairly carefree and laid-back, as well as being a bit of a free spirit, comparable to Sarutobi Asuma (though of course not as lazy). Again, in a couple of chapters things will come to a head, tying together several points so far along with the story title. For now, you can speculate away, though I've probably left enough clues for a general idea of what'll happen.**

**Other minor notes: the Kyuubi was sealed away using the Shinigami's power, so some people might have wondered just how the hell the Hachibi was sealed in canon if he had near the same amount of power as the Kyuubi. In a future chapter I'll explain my own version of how Hachibi and Shichibi managed to be sealed in the first place even with eight/seven tails of power. By the time you get to Rokubi with six tails of power, I figure that regular shinobi are able to actually defeat the tailed demons without any extenuating circumstances, albeit still with sacrifice.**

**Lastly, next chapter I'll finally start responding to any reviews of interest at the beginning of each chapter, so review away (particularly since I have like 75 Story Alerts and only 14 reviews ********)! **


	4. A1C4: Dealings with Foxes and the Wolf

**unknown warrior – No, I'm definitely meaning lb. Look up a databook of characters on almost anything Japanese. Even considering different biology, they like to freakishly underweigh their characters. For example, the character databook says a 12-13-year-old Sakura is 35.9kg, which is only about 79lb.**

**Deidara-Chan – I realize not many people like to use logic, but that's where all the fun comes in. If I can give a legitimate reason for an anti-Sharingan technique, then that's cool. If I can give a legitimate reason to be able to skip multiple handseals, then all the better when I decide somebody needs to godmode. As for grammar, that's understandable; some of the scenes I have to force myself to finish up at times to stay within a decent time parameter.**

**Arc One: Prelude to Darkness**

**Chapter Four: Dealings with Foxes and Wolves**

One of the imperatives of being a ninja was to always be able to expect the unexpected – failing that, a shinobi must do their best to be able to adapt to the situation to maximize their efficiency over the task at hand. Even with that lesson ingrained in him, it was still a bit of a surprise when Naruto abruptly woke up while rolling over and found himself, not sleeping in a bed with rays from the moonlight poking through his window, but rather sleeping on the hard dirt of a dark, damp cave that reeked heavily of animal. Taking a few seconds to think over what was going on, he remembered the circumstances that had led him to here, sleeping in a fox den.

Finding the foxes had not been so bad, Naruto reflected. Having stretched his senses out a bit and with some instructions from Kyuubi, he easily located the cave that the family had taken over and made into a den. It was when he intruded upon their new home that things had gotten a bit out of the usual for him.

***Flashback***

Having found the entrance to the den in the wall of a small cliff, Naruto easily understood how the place had gone uninhabited until then; humidity from the nearby stream collected up at the bottom of the cliff, and had become trapped in the cave. The year-round heat that was present thanks to Konoha's location near the geographical center of the continent added to the unsufferable heat of the cave, creating hot damp air. The only way residency in the cave could be tolerable was to consistently keep your head less than two feet off the ground, as the moisture tended to congregate near the top of the cave, causing droplets of water sliding down the ceiling towards the wall.

At Kyuubi's insistence, Naruto crawled through the cave, trying to make a decent amount of noise so as to not startle the fox, yet not so much so as to scare them off. After crawling about twenty feet through the tunnel, a little yip followed by a growl interrupted Naruto's mental conversation with the Kyuubi as he saw a red-furred fox standing aggressively before him. The Kyuubi cut into the showdown as he communicated with Naruto, **'Gaki, you will want to use my yokai here – it will allow you to temporarily speak fox.'**

Naruto complied, though a bit awed at the jack-of-all-trades use Kyuubi's yokai was beginning to seem to have when properly applied, as well as a bit uneased over how readily the kitsune was giving him some of his yokai (he had made it bitterly clear at the beginning of his mentorship that he would almost never allow him useage of his yokai), and a thin coat of red began to shine around his body, startling the fox that stood before him. What surprised Naruto, however, even with Kyuubi's warning, was his understanding the fox's yips and growls. "Who are you? You smell like fox, yet you are human!" Crude and to-the-point, but effective at getting its desire across for knowledge to satiate its own natural vulpine curiosity.

Before it even crossed his conscious mind that he was speaking to a fox, Naruto responded in a series of grunts and growls, "Kyuubi-sama sent me." He then realized what he had just done, and backed up, thinking over the last few seconds. So caught up in this revelation Naruto was that he missed the tail end of what the sentry fox said to him. Flushing at not paying attention, he spoke up, continuing his guttural speech, "I'm sorry, what was that again?"

The fox was annoyed at having to repeat himself, but having seen Naruto's eyes take on a glazed look for a few seconds, he had an idea of what had been going on – despite foxes being, well, more _animalistic_ in their wanderings, lore still managed to pass down through the ages, and the sealing of demons into human beings was one of them. "As I asked, how do you know Kyuubi-sama?" By now, however, he had an idea of what was going on, particularly given Konoha's hostility to anything fox.

Naruto yipped back, "I am the vessel that he was sealed into seven years ago." Seeing the fox look slightly more hostile than before at the news, he quickly added, "It was not my choice, and he has no chance of escape from the seal that holds him for at least another seven years."

The fox gave off something between a sigh and a snort – Naruto couldn't quite tell given that a fox's face had less flexibility to express emotions – but responded with a bit more cordiality than before. "What does Kyuubi-sama want from us?"

Naruto was slightly bemused at how the fox had easily fallen in line at the mention of the Kyuubi, but quickly sought to explain why he was here, "Kyuubi-sama doesn't want anything. On the contrary; rather, as an unfortunate side of his attack on Konohagakure seven years ago, the local fox population has sharply declined. He has picked up on this; as his vessel, he wishes for me to do offer what aid I can in boosting numbers. As such, ask and I will do what I can to help the family here."

The fox stayed silent for a minute, then responded, "We have three males and five females, all adults, two expecting a litter a little before the full moon."

Naruto tried to remember the state of the moon from the night before, and recalled it as being a little bit more than a sliver. "So in about twenty-four days?" He asked as a rough estimate, going off his knowledge of a full moon being approximately 28 days give or take a negligible fraction.

"Twenty four solar cycles," the fox agreed. "It is too wet in here, so either find us another place to reside or get rid of the dampness. All my packmates refuse to leave the cave right now out of fear of other humans, and I alone cannot provide for all eight of us. If you could, please secure some manner of prey for us."

_So, get rid of dampness, get food. Can I do that, Kyuubi-sama?_ Naruto prompted his inner demon.

'**Yes, you certainly can. However, for now, you can only get food. Come into the mindscape tonight and I shall show you a jutsu that shall solve for the problem of dampness.**'

"Kyuubi-sama says I should be capable of both. I cannot help with the moisture just yet, but I can get food. However, you need not worry about humans, though; this place is protected by seals that prevent most humans from getting in. To my knowledge, there are only four humans capable of entering the surrounding the area outside in about a four kilometre radius," Naruto said. Thinking the conversation over, he flipped over and turned his body around to crawl out.

"Wait!" The fox yipped out, its slit eyes narrowing in what looked to be wary distrust. Naruto turned his head around. "Is it simply because Kyuubi-sama asked you to help us that you do?"

Naruto just laid there for a minute and thought. "No, it is not. Kyuubi-sama only made a request of me, not an order. Rather," here, he gained a look of frustration on his face, "When he was sealed in me, the village that he was attacked had suffered losses of many sorts, and I simply was the most convenient scapegoat. My goal ever since I found out why I was hated by so many was to prevent others from suffering the same as I did. At first, it was a will only to be extended to my fellow humans, but seeing how Konoha has abused the vulpine population, I cannot stand for that either." Finishing his monologuing, he concluded, "If that is all, then I believe I am done here?" With no response, he crawled back out of the cave, leaving a thoughtful fox behind.

***End Flashback***

After that, he had gone out for the hunt, putting his instincts, senses and shinobi skills to use.

***Flashback***

A low breeze whistled through the trees, but the prey paid no attention, as a brown rabbit nibbled on the grass. After all, it was often windy, and during this time of the year, when the heat began to pick up and the air became heavy with moisture, the pickings were good. Besides, its main natural predator, foxes, had not been seen in years, and over time the rabbit's instincts had dulled. Finally, it was in an out-of-the-way location far from any centre of humans, so it had no need to fear the possibility of being hunted by them either.

Hence when a four-sided shuriken flew through the air silently, the rabbit never had a chance to know it was dead as the metal star pierced its throat, its carotid artery bleeding out as its lifeblood left its body. A young golden-haired boy, who had made sure to stay downwind of the summer breeze to avoid his scent being given away, and put his hand over the bleeding to keep the meat of the rabbit fresh.

It was then that it struck Naruto that this was the first time that he had killed anything bigger than the common fly or a fish. As if a plug had been pulled on his mind, a torrent of emotions flooded through him all at once in a rush. At first, he was horrified. He had just killed a rabbit, a living, breathing mammal, in cold blood - and for what? Food? He could always have just gotten ramen or vegetables from the log cabin.

Just as he was about to break down crying in memory of the poor, innocent creature he had just taken the life of, the more rational part of his brain began to hold back the waves of confusion. That was all very well for him, but what of the foxes? They needed food _now_, and they were far more carnivorous in their eating habits than humans were. He couldn't very well blame evolution for that, now could he? Additionally, he had long since learned that if he was to ever become a shinobi he needed to be prepared to kill in what was essentially a dog-eat-dog world, particularly if he wished to fulfill his goal of preventing others from living what life had been like for him before that fateful day two years ago.

Still, it was with a heavy heart that Naruto walked away from the clearing, but eventually the adrenaline wore off and his blood vessels eased, as he came to an abrupt realization: he might not like killing, but for every necessary kill he made, it was a kill somebody else did not have to make. If somebody enjoyed killing, then he or she would very likely not maintain a code of morals for very long.

It was with a shrill bark that Naruto began to laugh. Jinchuuriki, was the term that he had been told about two years ago. The power of human sacrifice, they called a person like him. Little did they know that he would live up to the name in more ways than one, right now as he killed the rabbit in preparation for the real deal, as soon as he was born, and hopefully so long as he lived.

***End Flashback***

It _was_ odd, indeed, as when Naruto had come back, rabbit in hand, and after the foxes were done feeding, they had invited him to stay. Partly it was a deterrent against any other enemies, partly because they seemed to find some comfort of the kitsune overlord, no matter whether he was sealed or not. In the back of his head, Naruto was beginning to suspect said kitsune of being up to something with all his actions. Sure, he knew the demon would be a manipulative one with his own motives, but this was the first he had thought about it, and he couldn't help but wonder just what the Kyuubi had in store for him if this was only the beginning of what would happen in the seven years to come still. For now, he left his thoughts aside, as he rolled over onto his back, the heavy smell of fox permeating the cave (which he had promptly used a **Fuuton: Daitoppa** to clear the mist out of shortly after he had returned and Kyuubi had gotten a chance to give him the handseals to it; even if it was a temporary solution, it still had gotten rid of a build-up of humidity weeks old).

Over the next few months, while his thoughts on Kyuubi's actions only lingered at the back of his mind, he did consort with the foxes some more, sleeping many nights in the fox den, finding himself more at peace with them around than in his own room at the cabin (something which he chalked up to the Kyuubi influenced his own inner nature). While he never learned any names (this family not being one that did names, though the kitsune demon assured him that others did), he did help them survive, occasionally bringing in a bit of raw game, and keeping the cavern in top shape for when the first of the vixens gave birth to her litter of kits.

Overall, Naruto began to thought, while some of his behaviour seemed to be as a result of the Kyuubi being sealed inside of him, he didn't really mind. He had known that he was becoming slightly demonic for awhile now, which would explain the other part of his new attitude (such as the wanton desire to be close to his non-demonic kin) and with nobody around to hurt him physically or psychologically, he had no problem in embracing this newly-emerged side of him.

---

"**Oi, gaki!"** Kyuubi shouted out, particularly exuberant for once. **"Come over here and sit down, I have an idea for you on how to better your chakra control!"**

Needless to say, Naruto hurried his way over to in front of the fox, who had by this time in his nightly teachings decreased his avatar's size from hundreds of feet tall to a little under a story to better interact with the blone every night. Even though he had grown a bit over the past two years, his chakra resolves had kept up the point where his growth spurt was mostly negated; instead, it had been getting rid of large quantities before training that had been the most help. That the kitsune had any kind of solution to increase his efficiency over utilizing his chakra was music to his ears. "Ah, ah, what is it, Kyuubi-sama?" He excitedly exclaimed as he plopped his rear on the dirt floor of the fox den.

The Kyuubi tossed his vessel a vulpine grin. **"If it were something I would do, I would have smacked myself with my paw for how simple of a solution it was." **He waited a few seconds to build up the suspense for the young Uzumaki, before continuing on. **"As you know, the **Shiki Fūjin **is largely based on willpower, as you already have noticed with me being able to redecorate your mindscape and talking to you while on the outside world. However, with your permission again of course, I would also be able to use my yokai to control your physical body."** Here, his mouth curled up in what Naruto had long since identified as a giant fox's version of a frown. **"Do not worry, I have no desire to take control of a weak ningen body such as yours." **Naruto just stayed quiet at the kitsune's words. He might be on the bad side of a somewhat abusive relationship with the nine-tailed bijuu, but so far the fox had been fairly honest in its dealings, and he desired to be able to live after the Shinigami's power ran out.

"**Anyways, asides from taking control I could also ideally alter your very genetic structure to give you a bloodline, as bloodlines usually come from a demonic-human relationship and the dilution of the demonic blood over several generations. However, I will not your genetics, as I would have to physically change them for every cell in your body, which is a tad bit more difficult than simple breeding."** Naruto restrained a blush at the constant references to mating and breeding. While he was ignorant to the birds and bees, he still had an idea of the reproduction process having been amongst the foxes for a while.

The fox continued on, ignorant of his vessel's thoughts at the moment. **"That does not mean I cannot do **_**anything**_**, however. In basic, what my idea revolves around is to increase the number of tenketsu in your body." **Seeing Naruto gape at the idea, the fox cut in before Naruto could ask any questions. **"That Uchiha gaki said a human being normally has 361 tenketsu on their body, which is true. However, those who use chakra usually develop a few extra tenketsu over their lifetime, usually through the pressure of the chakra causing the chakra coils to forcibly adapt by opening up a few new tenketsu to release more chakra from at the same time. They most often pop up on the hands, feet or around the mouth because those are the most popular areas to channel chakra from. However, new tenketsu can also result from a large overuse of chakra at once, which can cause the skin around the coils to blow up, and the coils would develop upwards into the skin. Lastly, some medic nins skilled with senbons and able to see or feel the exact location of your chakra coils, such as the Hyuuga clan, can forcibly cut through skin and muscle and coax tenketsu to develop." **Once more the fox paused, then added, **"Of course, doing that is a VERY delicate process and requires extreme concentration on the part of the medic."**

"Huh," Naruto replied as he looked down at his feet in a contemplative pose, then gave off a short hmm before coming to a conclusion. So far he saw no lie in the kitsune lord's words, which he needed to be able to detect every time the fox neglected to swear upon his demon's honour that he was telling the truth, but that didn't mean the demon couldn't deceive him: he could still be leaving things out. Once again, he figured that the Kyuubi hadn't tried to do anything already for two years even in his most vulnerable state, so there wasn't any point in distrusting him now. Still, he needed more information. Bringing his head back up to look back at his prisoner's red slit eyes, he probed for more details, "So for you to add more tenketsu to my body on your own, I would have to temporarily hand over complete control to you?" A nod confirmed his suspicions. "What else should I know about this procedure? How exactly will you be creating them, and where will most of the new tenketsu be concentrated?"

For his own part, over the past two years, the Kyuubi had been pleased at how readily his vessel took to instruction. Even in the face of the king of the bijuu, and a Kami-blessed being of near-absolute power, the young boy had been defiant, struggling onwards every day to improve himself; it showed, too, as between his lessons in the mindscape and the effects of the Kage Bunshin the giant kitsune estimated that its vessel had mentally aged seven years in the past two physical years. Truly, it was a shame that Uzumaki Naruto was not born a Kitsune, but the Kyuubi's own yokai had already caused his biological structure to slightly change into that of a kitsune. It was a process that would not be completed, but at least the Kyuubi could take heart in that someone who was already as able to see through deception as his container was had at least some degree of kitsune blood. **"I will not lie: when I take over your body, what I do will hurt. **

"Hmmm" was Naruto's simple reply, as his face scrunched up in concentration. "That reminds me, I understand the basic anatomy of my chakra coils and everything, but the extra length of my coils shouldn't accommodate for what I'm feeling when I focus in on the eight gates: my reserves give off a feeling of being less _tight_, I guess, I think that's the only way I can really describe it."

"**Ah"** the Kyuubi growled back in its guttural tone. **"That is somewhat easy to explain. In the past I have told you that the nine clans that the nine bijuu belong to all have humanoid forms adorned with features that their counterpart animal possesses, one of the most usual traits being a tail and ears for the mammals. Yet, we can also transform into our counterparts, but more specifically, mammoth-sized versions. How do you suppose that is?"**

Naruto was confused by the question, but decided to think it over. "Well, obviously it isn't a Henge or an illusion because that would never stand up to a trained ninja. If you were to be a regular-sized fox, I imagine you could compress your body, but you'd still weigh the same." The blonde paused. The answer to the kitsune's question was there, lingering at the front of his thoughts, waiting to be grabbed all the while subtly slipping through his fingertips. "On the flip side, your giant fox body can't be all physical mass, so the only way I can see it happening is if it were a yokai...construct..." Naruto leaped up, a wild gleam shining in his eyes. That was it!

"**Indeed you are right, young one,"** said the Kyuubi, offering a rare praise to his container. **"A demon's body is able to contain vast amounts of yokai, far more than any human is physiologically capable of. We can let out all that yokai to create out giant bodies. For example, in my earlier rampage, the only mass in my body was in the center, where my real body existed." **Here he let out another low growl. **"Of course, with the sealing my body lost its soul, so it disintegrated right after. A lesser demon would never be able to live free of its prison after that because they have no body to go to when they escape, but all of us tailed bijuu have enough yokai that we can create an actual physical body to inhabit as soon as we free ourselves, which is why despite many of the lower ranking bijuu and the Shichibi being sealed multiple times, they still live to this day." **At this point, the nine-tailed demon realized he was straying from the original topic, and abruptly switched subjects. **"Anyways, the point is the demon equivalent of your eight gates is capable of holding far more yokai than the gates is of your chakra. As I have mentioned before, your body will metamorph to a degree into a kitsune, so the Hachimon are capable of holding more chakra without feeling a 'breaking point', if you will. As a result, your chakra does not overflow out into your chakra coils, meaning your chakra flow will be somewhat easier to manage. Within the next year I would say that your chakra control should improve from absolutely miserable to only below average."**

Despite listening to and understanding most of the technical details his prisoner was offering him, Naruto's mind was wandering elsewhere. "A demon is that powerful?" He asked. "It seems unfair that the whole entirety of demonkind seems overpowered in comparison to us humans."

The Kyuubi could only bare his fangs in a twisted grin at that, three of his tails at his rear thrashing wildly in excitement at his vessel's indirect recognition of his superiority. **"Of course, but why do you think Kami-sama placed so many restrictions on travel between the two realms, Makai and Ningenkai? Except for nine of us most can only come over with a relatively insignificant amount of power, and we are more vulnerable to being sealed into a vessel, inanimate or not. And besides, even though a demon lives forever by natural means, it just means we have few children."**

Naruto responded back, being forced to admit that even if humans were downgraded in comparison,the two realms were still separated. There wasn't really much he could do about it. Feeling a bit awkward at the way the conversation had turned, he decided to cut it short. "Uh, Kyuubi-sama, as interesting as this is, could we get on with my tenketsus, please?"

The giant fox gave off something akin to a snort, before saying, **"Very well."** Rearing his head up and imposing a giant glare at his vessel, he began to state out the conditions of their agreement. **"In that case, do you agree to hand over temporary control of your body to me, for the sole purposes of allowing me to manipulate my yokai to pierce holes in your flesh, forcibly create new tenketsus, heal the damage and deal with any unforeseen side-effects?"** A nod from Naruto was all that was needed to satisfy the falter in willpower required for the Kyuubi to begin the process.

Shortly after beginning, the Kyuubi split a small portion of his attention span to inside the mindscape while the rest of his focus was dedicated to the task at hand. It was a good thing he was not feeling his vessel's pain, he reflected – impossible as it seemed, even in the mindscape, Naruto seemed to be having a hard time of it, as sweat rolled down his forehead, his teeth grinded against each other, and his fists clenched together until his skin turned white and blood began to drip. Minutes later, as soon as Kyuubi finished the process and stopped circulating his demonic energy throughout Naruto's system, Naruto again accomplished the seemingly impossible, as he collapsed into a dead heap in his mindscape.

---

Today was the day: for the first time in two years, Naruto was to leave the security of Training Ground #46, as a week ago Itachi had told him the Hokage wished to speak to him about his future. That morning, he had particularly made sure to wash his body thoroughly to weaken the strong stench of fox that had begun to attach to the light tickle of vulpine smell he had already possessed as a side-result of being a jinchuuriki to a kitsune demon (between being partially fox demon and a bit of hard work he had already been able to understand most of the foxes on his own by now); Konoha was still high-strung over anything relating to foxes, so it wouldn't do to unduly make those with a sensitive nose skittish. That, and because he had already been identified by that natural waft of fox, he didn't want to alert anyone to his return, fearing the worst-case scenario.

When he finally stepped over the boundary line that marked the end of the protection of the seals, he felt oddly naked in a sense. Despite the heavy brown cloak that disguised most of his body movements, and the foreign, noble-like face that he possessed thanks to a Henge, from tanned skin straight down to a sharp nose, Itachi could still read his feelings, no doubt a testament to the genius he was, as well as how well he had gotten to know the jinchuuriki over the last couple of years.

Naruto took a glance at Itachi, who returned the look. Understanding the unspoken words the Uchiha gave him, the two hopped up into the trees and started running east towards Konoha. As the foliage passed by in his vision and the wind whipped at his skin, Naruto yelled out towards his fellow sprinter, "Where are we headed to first, Itachi-nii-san?"

Itachi took a second to process the question, his focus dedicated to his tunnel vision as he was busy passing the landscape. Once he interpreted the question, he didn't hesitate to shout back, "Hokage-sama wants us to report to him as soon as we get back to Konoha. He has not seen you in two years, you know."

That last statement of the weasel-masked officer shot a small pang of guilt up Naruto's heart. Even though the number of people who would have missed him could literally be counted on only three fingers, he still hadn't paid them a visit in two years. He vowed to make up for lost time, however, and to eat plenty of ramen (though he would also take the opportunity to sample some of Ichiraku's healthier dishes – months of living on the wild and a bit of nagging from the Kyuubi on the side had tempered his eating habits to being relatively healthy).

It didn't take long, distracted as he was between his own personal thoughts and keeping himself from running into any trees, to reach the Hokage Tower. Naruto had only been to the tower a few times in his short life, but those few times had already impressed themselves strongly upon him: the lower levels were made up of pencil-pushers who worked on the paperwork for much of the day-to-day affairs of Konoha's regular business. On the higher up levels were those who worked over the details for missions involving Konoha's ninja force, and diplomatic relations with the daimyo and other countries. On the top levels were some of the brass, including the Hokage's office, as well as the mission briefings office for the lower-ranking missions. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the underground bunker underneath the tower was under lock and key accessible by only the Hokage and a few others, with an ever-increasing number of seals protecting each lower level, which held vast stores of information on Konoha and the world at large.

Naruto and Itachi managed to skip most of the daily hustle and bustle that was a result of the hundreds of administrative workers; although Itachi couldn't take him through the ninja-only entrance that would otherwise guarantee them quick access to the top floors, he was still an ANBU captain, and that counted for something. Finally making their way through the mass of humans, the duo found themselves outside of the Hokage's office. Because Naruto hadn't been seen in two years by anybody other than his two nii-sans, the secretary didn't recognize him, even with his defining golden hair and whisker marks; Itachi kept it this way by omitting his name when mentioning to the secretary that he and his accomplice had a meeting with the Hokage.

Itachi began to scowl as time went on, and the exact time that the Hokage had had their appointment for passed by, his only relief from his slowly growing impatience being the muffled sound of shouting behind the doors leading to the Hokage's office. Whoever it was, he sorely wished that they would hurry up. Just before his mental presence began to degrade into ranting, he recognized the telltale trace of chakra that Sarutobi often flared to indicate to a ninja with an appointment to come in. When the doors didn't open, Itachi took the initiative, muttering a low "We have to go in now", to Naruto, all the while wondering what the third party who hadn't yet left the office had to do with their appointment.

For Naruto's part, when he initially entered the unexpected fourth person only barely registered on his mind. Instead, he took his time to look around the office, reimpressing its look and feel after two years of its image fading away in his memories. The mahogany desk complete with chairs on both side that the Hokage sat at, piles of paperwork adorning opposite ends. The portraits of the four Hokages in chronological order, all sombre in their expressions, ranging from the Lord of the Forest, Senju Hashirama, to the Yellow Flash, Namikaze Minato. The large open window on the side, which several high-ranking Jonin and ANBU were rumoured to often come through, preferring to forgo the stairs (something which Naruto just chalked up to a personality quirk).

As such, it was a surprise when he turned his attention back to the extra person and immediately identified him as an ANBU captain by his white cloak. Looking up at the mask, he saw black markings make up a curved grin, stout nose, and canine ears, and a few other smaller marks that led him to quickly deduced it as being a wolf mask. To his side, Itachi gave a start: knowing who this man was, he was wondering why he was here. Nevertheless, he didn't allow that to prevent him from fulfilling customs as soon. As the Hokage had reapplied the sound-sealing jutsu that permeated the room during high-security meetings, he spoke, "ANBU Captain Itachi, reporting for appointment on the debriefing on the last two years of the training of one Uzumaki Naruto, Hokage-sama."

The Hokage looked up from a report on his desk, and took his reading glasses off. "Ah, Itachi. You may remove your mask for now." Taking a pointed glance at the opposite captain, he added, "I saw it fit that Ookami be here for this debriefing." With that, he cracked his knuckles, clenching his hands together and relaxing his head on them while looking at Itachi, waiting for him to begin.

Itachi, mask removed, began his debriefing. "Yes sir. As you know, I am here to debrief you on the last two years of Uzumaki Naruto's training, and his skill levels." This last comment was added for Ookami's convenience. "I find it fit to begin with Uzumaki's chakra capacity and control. At the beginning of his training, Uzumaki was able to wield his chakra with little difficulty, but refining it was an entirely different thing; due to his status as the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, and the nature of the seal that the Yondaime Hokage applied, he has slowly begun to convert and absorb the Kyuubi's yokai. If one were to use me as a base, I would say that he has approximately four times as much chakra as I do." He paused to let that fact sink in, and then continued, "Unfortunately, his body was literally unable to contain it all, and began to leak out."

"Fellow instructor Ebisu and myself first had Uzumaki on a daily basis expend his chakra to temporarily deplete his reserves. Following that, the two of us started him on multiple chakra control exercises to get a hold on his chakra, combining it with use of the Kage no Bunshin's special effects. Over the last two years, the problem of his chakra leaking has since disappeared as a result of two things: the first is his physical growth, which has allowed the size of his coils and the Hachimon to increase. Additionally, due to his status as a jinchuuriki, Uzumaki's body has become slightly demonic over time, estimated at approximately one-sixteenth demonic. A side-effect of this is the Hachimon's reserve capacity increasing, meaning his body is able to store more chakra regardless. Following that, one final maneuver was put into place: after obtaining a demonic oath from the Kyuubi no Kitsune not to do anything else, Uzumaki handed over temporary control to the Kyuubi to forcefully create extra tenketsus in his chakra system. Uzumaki currently possesses an estimated 430 tenketsus, the new ones concentrated mainly in the feet, hands, and around the mouth."

The mention of Naruto even communing with the Kyuubi didn't even seem to faze Ookami, which made Itachi suspicious. Itachi continued on, noting Naruto's inability to use genjutsu due to his chakra flux, and mentioned his moderate skill at kenjutsu with the standard ninja-to.

"However, Ebisu and myself have focused mainly on training Uzumaki mostly by the shinobi code, to be deceptive, stealthy, and observational. Having run him through some trials, we have found that he is a natural when it comes to sneaking around. We supplemented this in his ninjutsu by teaching him minor Doton and Suiton jutsus that have their usage in CIA (capture, infiltration, and/or assassination) missions much like the ANBU are mainly used for. However, Uzumaki's primary nature is Fuuton, surprisingly. We had a difficult task in teaching him Fuuton manipulation due to Konohagakure's lack of resources on Fuuton training and jutsus, but we managed to get some training manuals from Sarutobi Asuma and Nara Shikaku."

The Hokage let out a short 'hmm', before asking, "Is that all you have to say, Itachi?"

Itachi took the initiative here. "I have one more thing to say, Hokage-sama, which you and Ookami should find most interesting. Due to a number of factors, Uzumaki is a true shapeshifter."

_That_ finally got a reaction out of the Ookami-masked ANBU captain, who clearly didn't expect such a piece of knowledge as that, as his until-now calm posture jumped slightly, and the shinobi began to fall into what appeared to be a nervous habit as he began strumming the lips of his mask, clearly digesting the new information and thinking over the ramifications.

Taking a glance at Ookami, the Hokage continued, "In that case, can you please return in an hour? I have Ookami here for a few reasons, who has finally been properly briefed, but I am afraid there are details in the first part of this meeting I cannot allow you to hear, even with your clearance."

Itachi wanted to protest, but seeing the Hokage's hard look, decided against it. He knew that they were here to decide what Naruto's future would be, and disliked the idea of being left out on the dark on anything that would affect that. However, loyalty to Konoha and his Hokage, not to mention the stern look on Sarutobi's face, stopped any form of protest short of leaving his mouth. Instead, he offered a bow with grace, a short, to-the-point, "Hai, Hokage-sama", and left the quick way out the window, intent on going to patronize a certain ramen stand.

With Itachi out of the way, leaving only three people in the room, the Sandaime Hokage turned to face Naruto, who had up until now stayed calm and patient, allowing events to play out until he was required to participate. Sarutobi was at the same time saddened and happy at the sight: saddened because he was of the creed that children at the age of seven or five shouldn't have to be trained to become weapons, wishing for them to maintain their innocence as long as possible, yet happy because Naruto was already showing the discipline he would require to become someone truly great, someone who would be capable of fighting against the group of S-Rank ninjas that Jiraiya had gotten an inkling of only a few days ago.

Slowly, he realized that he was staring at Naruto, and broke his gaze off. He turned his focus to the other occupant of the room, and briskly gave him an order. "Ookami, you may take your mask off now."

The command left Naruto wondering at the Sandaime's intentions; so far, he had already been mystified by this mysterious ANBU captain, and why his jiji in all but name had him here, listening to a circumspect description of his skills and power. As soon as the ANBU was asked to remove his mask, Naruto's suspicions were confirmed: you don't just ask an ANBU to remove his mask, even if you are the Hokage, except for under certain circumstances.

However, it did give him a chance to see the face of the ANBU Ookami, who had, during his short brooding, removed his mask. He had a light chocolate brown complexion, with dark-brown-bordering-on-black short hair, highlighted by a widow's peak. His most noticeable feature, however, was that he seemed to have a permanent squint, dark eyes barely visible in the light of the Hokage's room. His observation was pushed aside for later as he was interrupted out of his reverie when the Hokage spoke up, "Ah, Naruto-kun, I believe it's time I should introduce you. This here is Inuzuka Kazuo, ANBU Captain of a six-man squad."

The introduction prompted the Inuzuka clan member to finally speak up for the first time in the whole conversation, a bright smile allowing his white teeth to contrast with his slightly dark skin, "Ah, hello Naruto. As Hokage-sama just said, I'm Inuzuka Kazuo. There are several things that I was invited here to speak with you about today. However, there are a few facts you should know about me first. For one, I was the teammate of your father, Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage."

With Kazuo's statement, hell broke loose in the Hokage's office.

---

**And another chapter bites the dust, hurray, and I have more free writing time, double hurray. Sorry about this being a (relatively) short chapter, but I was a bit pressed for motivation, and most of the scenes in the next chapter really HAVE to go altogether in one chapter (and I didn't want to wait much longer to get this out). That, and I didn't want to have the beginning scenes with the foxes and rabbit be all fluffy. I didn't really like how I wrote some of that stuff either, so I'll probably edit it in a bit. Like, a lot of editing. Don't worry, said fox family will (probably) make an appearance in the next chapter. Aside from all that, a minor name change in the title: instead of 'Naruto Uzumaki', I've changed it to 'Uzumaki Naruto'.**

**It might seem odd that Naruto should have such a reaction over killing a rabbit, but one must remember that at that point in time he IS seven, and although he's done training and all, the reality of the world hasn't quite sunk in at the time. Besides that it gives me a reason not to spend much time dallying over something in the next chapter.**

**The end of the chapter went through several revisions. I was originally going to bring in Jiraiya at the end of the chapter and not have the whole reveal about Naruto's heritage. However, as time went on, I decided I didn't want Jiraiya to come in for at least another couple of years in story time, yet I still wanted somebody who was close to the Yondaime. Eventually, I decided that if not the Yondaime's sensei, then one of his teammates; particularly, his male teammate. After that, I had to develop an impression of how this OC would act, and so forth, until I hit on another brilliant idea: in a few chapters I was going to introduce an adult male Inuzuka OC, who I have the general timeline of what he'll do in the fic down and a bit of his character. In a fit of genius I decided to take out the middleman and put him in this role as the Yondaime's teammate. It actually cuts down a problem as I was having difficulties as to how I was going to originally introduce Kazuo later. Of course, just **_**being**_** the Yondaime's teammate didn't seem enough, or else Naruto's interaction with him would be a bit awkward, so hence the dramatic reveal. Now I have another small problem, however; that being in developing Kazuo's relationship with Naruto to be a family-like relationship, but he can't quite act as a father, but more of a cross between a godfather and an uncle. Also, before anyone asks about why I keep his appearance the same as in the color shot of Jiraiya's team, I didn't really feel like taking much creative license with Yondaime's teammates, aside from introducing them as OCs.**

**In any case, for any reviewers, I'd like some reviewer input on a few things.**

**First, for the reviewers who enjoy all the science and logic and background information that I try to put into jutsus and chakra, I'd like your opinion on a couple of things: the Yondaime's Hiraishin is often described as a thunder-based fuinjutsu that allows the Yondaime to instantly teleport from one location to another, but I would like to hear people's opinions on what the mechanics of such a jutsu could be past saying 'it's a space-time teleportation jutsu'. In my opinion, I see Hiraishin working on the concept of the direct current of electricity, where it has only one path to go, and travels directly to the nearest 'end-point'. This property of electricity is then combined with distorting space so that the user actually teleports instead of moves from one spot to another instantaneously (so that you don't hit a wall if say you teleport between work and home). **

**Following that, if part of how Hirashin works is based on electricity/Raiton's properties, how precisely would a wind/Fuuton version of Hiraishin work? The theory I'm working on right now is that unlike Hiraishin, in the Narutoverse you can't replicate a wind technique that can teleport you **_**anywhere**_**. Instead, while this wind-version doesn't require seals, it has a drawback in that you can't go through solid surfaces (and fluids beyond a certain density), and isn't technically teleportation per se. Rather, the user of the technique would create a pocket of space similar to a vacuum by drawing out as much air as he can, and then moving in this pocket of space, all within a matter of a tenth to a twentieth of a second ('fast' reflexes in reality is about .20-.23s, but of course much of the Narutoverse suggests action goes a lot faster still), and taking protocols to ensure the enemy can't similarly take advantage of this vacuum bubble.**

**Putting it all together here, based on the version of Hiraishin I have worked up so far, Naruto won't be able to use Hiraishin in battle, simply because one would need mastery over their lightning element. However, at the same time, that doesn't mean he can't use Hiraishin **_**at all**_**; thanks to my disclaimer about fuuinjutsu hax, Naruto might end up designing a large-scale version of Hiraishin which requires a larger seal (to compensate for lack of lightning mastery), isn't portable, and consumes a crapload of chakra, but can be used to travel between two of these large seals at once, up to several hundred kilometres; so if you laid one of these large-scale seals in Konoha and one in Suna, if you used enough chakra you could teleport from one place to the other instantly. That shouldn't be too broken though considering the three drawbacks to it that I noted earlier.**

**I realize what I'm trying to describe here is a bit complicated, so if you need further clarification on technical details, send me a pm. If you can understand what I'm trying to say here, please add your own opinion/ideas!**

**In addition to any Hiraishin ideas/opinions, I'd also like a general poll on population numbers for Konoha and some of its clans (because despite only the Hyuga and Uchiha clans ever having more than five members mentioned, there's definitely more members in most clans than the clan heir and his/her parent(s)).**

**Here's what I believe the general population range is (do note that the clan numbers don't include just shinobi, but also civilian members):**

**Konoha – 80,000 people**

**Ninja – 6,000ish (because there's no way in hell you can graduate 9 students a year)**

**ANBU - 500**

**Hunter-Nin – 200**

**Jonin – 750**

**Chuunin – 1500**

**Genin – 2500**

**Everything else (Torture and Interrogation, Medic-Nins, spies, etc.) – 750**

**Hyuga Clan – 250**

**Uchiha Clan – 300**

**Inuzuka Clan – 150 (smaller than the main two but larger than most others because their dog-like mentalities push them on to have several children each generation)**

**Nara Clan – 50 (because the males find sex too troublesome)**

**Akimichi clan – 40 (the amount of food they consume would require a large amount of capita, so the family numbers can't go too high or else the clan could go bankrupt)**

**Yamanaka clan – 80 (More than the Nara and Akimichi because I imagine most would be in interrogation or reconnaissance/spy work rather than in active fighting roles)**

**Senju – 15 (It's never canonically mentioned whether there are any living Senju left besides Tsunade, so here I'm going to assume them to have dwindled in status to be insignificant, especially with their strongest and possibly only shinobi out wandering the world gambling away her money)**

**Sarutobi – 25 (Sarutobi and his wife, at least two known children, the unknown one married and has Konohamaru as a son, plus some other odds and ends)**

**Finally, I'd like to hear thoughts on whether one would consider the Aburame to have a kekkei genkai or not. It's not having insects in your body that I consider as a kekkei genkai; rather, I think they probably do some form of surgery to allow them to nest. However, I DO consider Shino's ability to actually communicate with his bugs a kekkei genkai, but I'd like to hear other's thoughts on it.**


	5. A1C5: A New Home

**markami – Thanks for the future. A lot of fanfictions have the idea that Yondaime was lightning-natured and coupled with the fact that Hiraishin literally means 'lightning rod' and was given the separate name of 'Flying Thunder God' it gave me the impression Yondaime was lightning as well. Truthfully I needed a way for Naruto to be able to use Hiraishin but make it too inconvenient for him to merely use it in battle (so long-range teleportation works for travelling but not for quick split-second reaction teleportations) so it's back to the drawing board for me on that. **

**A lot of people have given me some feedback on the Aburame 'bloodline'. After some deliberating, I decided to split up the bloodline into two separate parts; the first half is they have a psionic link that allows them to communicate with insects of most nature, but have a particular high affinity with their kikaichu bugs. The second half is physical, in that an Aburame's bones are more hollow inside, allowing the bugs to reside in their bones (for normal people, you could poke holes in their bodies for the kikaichu to go inside, but they simply would not have enough space to stay in the body).**

**And so, without further ado...**

**Arc One: Prelude to Darkness**

**Chapter Five: A New Home**

Hiruzen Sarutobi had many regrets in his life. As a high-ranking shinobi who began to make his name on the frontlines of war, then as a sensei of a trio of ninja who would themselves all go on to become legendary, and finally as the Hokage of Konohagakure, he had to make many hard decisions, the consequences of several which easily lent themselves to causing his regret. However, one of the biggest sources of his pain dealt with his successor (and then predecessor) in office, Namikaze Minato, and his progeny, Uzumaki Naruto.

He regretted not studying up any more on sealing than he had – even though he was a wizard of sealing in his own right, he had still only been third best in Konoha when the Yondaime took over, behind his student Jiraiya, and light-years behind Minato. If he had studied up on fuuinjutsu just a bit more, then perhaps he might have been able to understand the schematics of the **Shiki Fuin** and use his own life to summon the Death God and seal the Kyuubi. As it was, he didn't, and Jiraiya was unable to understand the sheer genius of Minato's work. Because neither of them had the sealing skill to do what was necessary, they could not convince the Yondaime to let them do the task of calling upon the Shinigami. As a result, the Yellow Flash, a man who had already become a legend by the time he was 21, and the first SS-Class 'flee-on-sight' ninja in history, sacrificed his life to seal the Kyuubi no Kitsune into his own newborn son.

Then it came to the 'Yondaime's Legacy' in more ways than one, Minato's own son. Minato had believed that Konoha would see him as a hero for being the one who kept the Kyuubi at bay from destroying Konoha, who at birth held a burden unsurpassed by any. Sarutobi had thought the same, and he still did. However, he would personally admit that informing the people of Naruto before the people had even the chance to pick up the pieces right after the beast had been sealed, after having caused large amounts of property damage, slaying hundreds, if not thousands of shinobi and civilians, and requiring the Yondaime's death to take it out, had not been the best choice. They were all grieving at the time, and when something came along presenting itself as being a target they could cast all their blame aside, Naruto had been effectively made the scapegoat and dirty secret of Konoha overnight. Following that, popular support against Naruto had forced him to abandon his plans for adopting Naruto into the Sarutobi family; if he had tried to, then riots might have sparked, and in the end he was forced to take the path of least resistance.

About the only good he had been able to make out of the situation was to block any requests for making Naruto into Konoha's weapon: despite the existence of jinchuuriki in other nations, the Sandaime had been able to point out that the seal applied to Naruto was almost 100% devoted to actually sealing the Kyuubi away, with a remaining small portion of the seal's effects being to absorb and purify the demon's yokai and to give Naruto super regeneration. There were stories of lower-level jinchuuriki being able to turn into their actual demon, while still holding them sealed. However, the Kyuubi was simply too powerful – if Naruto changed into the Kyuubi's nine-tailed form, the seal would almost certainly break. Similarly, any attempt at channelling the kitsune's power would crack and weaken the seal (although he would later find out that low-level doses used explicity at the Kyuubi's permission would leave the seal unharmed). That, and he had made a subtle point about what would occur if Naruto snapped: as much as everyone wanted a weapon, they wanted even less for a jinchuuriki of the most powerful bijuu to suddenly lose it and destroy everything in sight.

And so Naruto had gone off to the orphanage for five years of his life. While he hadn't been beaten or anything (with the exception of a few weekend nights where he had no ANBU guards on Naruto and people got too plastered and made very foolish decisions, and for three months shortly after he had turned three where a matron had physically beaten him a few times a week – the last incident where she had tried to burn him alive had seen the matron executed and forced Sarutobi to put at least one ANBU on Naruto at all times), he had most certainly been neglected. He had not been taught how to read or write, or how to socially interact with others. Every time he had wandered the streets, parents ordered their children to stay away from him as they dragged their families away from his path. Street vendors and store owners had often refused to serve him, with the exception of Ichiraku Ramen.

Looking back, he wanted to smack himself for how ineffectual he had been in letting Naruto grow up. If it hadn't been for the Kyuubi's intervention of all things, he probably would have eventually overridden Itachi's request. Funnily enough, it hadn't even been the Kyuubi itself that had convinced Sarutobi to let Naruto get a pair of tutors/senseis. Rather, it had been the state of Naruto's mindscape when he first entered it that had pushed him forward to make the decision he had. He understood well enough sealing that he knew the Kyuubi's presence couldn't influence what it looked like (at least, not until Naruto allowed him to), so it was Naruto's own character and memories that shaped the place. Seeing the dank, damp, dark chamber that the Kyuubi resided in, and knowing of the maze-like sewers outside the chambers, and the ankle-deep water, all frightened him – he had enough knowledge of mindscapes to know that most people had inner selves that were a bit more homely, comfortable, but above all bright and light-hearted. Having seen what the darkness had done to his former pupil Orochimaru, he had gone forth with the decision to finally give Naruto a proper caretaker/teacher/sensei all-in-one. He hadn't cared much for the Kyuubi's own presence in the undertakings, but hearing the words he had from the demon lord on the bijuu's own honor was reassuring.

And now this. He had recently received word from Jiraiya that there was supposedly somebody out there who was looking for the bijuu, somebody on the level of S-class criminalhood. Unfortunately, Jiraiya had no idea why they wanted the bijuu, who this person was, or if they had any partners, or anything: just that a very dangerous ninja wanted the nine bijuu. That was enough to set him off – he knew well enough that even if this one person fell, another might rise to take his place. He was confident that Konoha as it was could take on any single ninja that came their way, but that could lead to unnecessary death – if Naruto could protect himself, then any damage wrought by this madman could be minimalized if the jinchuuriki was able to fight him.

When Sarutobi began to come up with ideas on how to fast-track Naruto moreso than he was already being trained, he strayed upon a possibility that had only been used a handful of times in the history of Konohagakure: any shinobi with excellent skills below the age of 14 could be, with approval on the Hokage's part, attached to an ANBU squad, and take part in the squad's training exercises and receive some one-on-one training from select members of ANBU. While dozens of applicants had been put forward for this junior ANBU program, less than ten people were ever accepted due to the sheer talent and potential that the Hokage's felt necessary before gambling with a pre-teen's life. The two most recent participants had been Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Itachi; the former had entered at the age of 13 after the death of his teammate and his jonin sensei becoming Yondaime, needing an emotional outlet lest he fall into depression over the former or reemerging sadness left over from his father's suicide; the latter entering at age 10, being pushed by his clan and father especially into becoming a Hokage hopeful and their finest warrior, and later their weapon for their to-be coup d'état, something that Sarutobi was still hoping to discreetly get them to call off, though he was losing hope as every day past.

When he had made his decision to put Naruto into this junior-esque program, it didn't take long for things to click together as he came up with the perfect squad for Naruto to go onto. It was a six-member squad led by Inuzuka Kazuo, one of the teammates on the late Yondaime's genin squad, which specialized in heavy assault (although, being an ANBU squad, they were still proficient in the manner of stealth and efficiency). The Hokage was hoping that Naruto could gain some battle experience from Kazuo's squad, though he would have to use one of his transformations to effectively fight for now – no matter how good a seven-year-old might be, a seven-year-old still had a lot of growing to do, but Naruto could bypass that part for now, though he would have to do physical training in his real body to keep up. At the same time, Naruto could be informed of his heritage, and Kazuo could regal him with tales of his parents, lightening up what was sure to be a hard life.

---

And so here was the Hokage now, pipe in his mouth, with Kazuo and Naruto before him in his office, wincing – while he had asked Kazuo to be the one to inform Naruto of just who his father was, feeling he had owed it to the man after an hour of yelling from the ANBU captain for having not told him of Naruto being Minato's son for seven years, he definitely wouldn't have informed the young boy quite so bluntly and to-the-point as the Inuzuka had.

Said boy was looking quite like a fish at the moment, with his jaw dropped open, eyes wide in shock, absolutely gobsmacked. After the few seconds it took him to lose his total paralysis and regain some sense of cognitive movement, his line of vision strayed to the oil portrait of the Yondaime on the wall, and began to mentally beat himself up over not having seen the similarities beforehand.

Once Naruto finished what was (to the other two occupants) an amusing show, he turned his glare to the Sandaime, and uttered a single word, "Why?"

There were untold dimensions of depth behind that lone question, but the Sandaime was able to tread most of the meaning that Naruto was imparting. "Your father, the Yellow Flash, was universally feared by many, but most especially Iwagakure. When he sacrificed his life to stop the Kyuubi, the Tsuchigake reputedly killed the messenger and a half-dozen advisors in a close rage at losing the chance to ever personally take revenge upon the Yondaime." He sighed, and took a puff out of his pipe before breathing out some smoke. "My new grandson Konohamaru and my two sons were both able to take the Sarutobi name because the enemies I have are just that, merely enemies, ones who normally don't see much point in killing my family to get at me. Unlike me, however, the people who hate the Yondaime fanatically hate him. They couldn't get at Konoha even in its state of weakness following the attack, but if they knew the Yondaime had a child, Iwa and possibly Kumo would be jumping around like rabid dogs and sending assassins after you before the day was out."

Here, the Sandaime took out a picture from behind his desk. It was a front shot of a beaming Yondaime Hokage, standing with his arm wrapped around an unidentified red-haired female of similar age. The picture obviously was taken in Konoha, given the trees in the background. "Your mother, Kushina Uzumaki, who you were named after. Kushina came from Uzu no Kuni, a country in the north that was one of Hi no Kuni's allies before Tsuchi no Kuni took it over shortly before the Third Great Shinobi War broke out. The Uzumaki were a small nomadic clan, with Kushina being one of the last. As such, you have a significant inheritance left over from her. Not all of it is material wealth; she brought with her own personal library, some scrolls of which have no duplicates."

He frowned, then leaned forward in his chair to take a pointed gaze at Naruto, "That, and you are jinchuuriki. Those two factors separately could cause trouble, but combined would be a disaster. Konoha itself would be divided between thinking of you as "Yondaime's son" and "Kyuubi gaki", and assassination attempts would switch to kidnapping attempts. I very well couldn't tell you while you were in the orphanage, because no matter how much I might have impressed on you to keep the knowledge to yourself, you were still very young, and might have blurted it out. During the time I sent you off two years ago, both me and the Kyuubi agreed that you were of a fragile mental state, and so I stayed that information for the time." Finally, he sank back into his recliner, and finished off with, "As for the last two and a half years...what good would it have done you to know?"

Naruto wanted to refute that point, but he couldn't. The one thing that an orphan always desired was knowledge of who his or her parents was, true; however, slowly but surely he had begun to build up a small family of sorts that included the likes of Itachi, Ebisu, heck, even the foxes and the Kyuubi of all beings. Having the spectre of the Yondaime hanging over his head would only have ruined that companionship. Still, he didn't have to like the hand he had been dealt in his early life. He needed to vent. _But before I can do that_, Naruto reminded himself, _I need to see what this meeting is about and then get out of here_.

Pulling a 180 change in the subject to speed up the meeting, he then responded, with a polite yet frantic undertone "Leaving that aside for now...just what did you ask me here today for, Hokage-sama?"

Slightly bemused at how Naruto shifted gears in the conversation so fast he might've gained verbal whiplash, the Hokage nevertheless complied with Naruto's unspoken request, and started detailing his main points. "In brief, we received intel that somebody of S-class power is out there looking for the nine tailed beasts." Naruto had a surprised look for a flicker of a second before he managed to school his face back into a mere grim look, remembering that a shinobi should never show emotions in the middle of a battle – he considered learning piece after piece of surprising information as good practice. Sarutobi noticed the sun-haired boy's brief surprise, but continued on. "We don't know who or what it is, we don't know what he or she or they want the bijuu for, all we know is somebody powerful is after them."

"And so you decided to take preventative measures for when they inevitably come after me," Naruto replied, instantly deducting part of the Sandaime's motivations. "However, I am confused as to why you needed to call me here. Were Itachi and Ebisu not good enough senseis, or is there something else?"

It was Sarutobi's turn to be surprised at how swiftly Naruto was able to piece together bits and pieces of information. He figured Naruto would pick up his intentions sooner or later, so he decided to end the word game then and there. "I'll be brief. While Itachi and Ebisu are good shinobi, they are only two men, one who rarely does any actual missions, and can only teach from their own experiences." Pausing to take another puff, he considered his next few words. "You may be our number one resource in the future, but you still need more tutelage before that, and even more importantly, you need battle experience."

Seeing a look of understanding and consequently a look of slight horror cross Naruto's face, he rushed to explain. "No, I'm not sending you on missions right away. For Kami's sake, you aren't even registered as an official ninja yet, and you won't be for awhile if you want to keep your enemies unaware of your true capability. Rather," here he gestured to Kazuo, who was finally brought back into the conversation, "You will be placed as an add-on to Kazuo's squad here, as a sort of junior ANBU member. Each squad member, who both Kazuo and I have checked to make sure none specifically hate you for _what_ you are, will train you in their own fields of expertise. This will continue on for six months, whereafter you can take the choice of either finding some more teachers, or going on missions with Kazuo's squad on a trial basis, again for experience, starting with some of the less dirty jobs."

Naruto had finally begun to look interested upon hearing of the prospect of ANBU membership, but a sudden question popped out. "I know Itachi-sensei joined ANBU when he was eleven, but I am still seven – I am simply not big enough to operate effectively, am I..." The sun-kissed jinchuuriki meant to make it sound like a question, but at the crucial point in time, his questioning tone trailed off into contemplation, before realization struck him. "You want me to use my full-body Henge while on missions, don't you?"

_At last he's getting it_, Sarutobi thought to himself. "Yes. I imagine your Henge allows you to shape your muscles and body structure, as well?"

Here, Naruto frowned. "Not quite. Kyuubi-dono explained a little bit of it to me. Kami-sama had thought it would be cheating if shapeshifters could permanently transform into a body stronger than their original, so Kami-sama made it so that none of your altered bodies can be powerful than your original, although you can train either your original or any of your altered bodies and that will carry over to all the others, as opposed to having to train the original every time you want to get stronger." With a sigh of relief, he realized that this also meant that he wouldn't have to physically train in total secret – he could simply adopt an alternate persona and train to keep in shape, although for some reason the idea of a shapeshift with a black-haired bowlcut, giant wiggling eyebrows and shining teeth flashed in his mind, which he immediately dismissed out of sheer disgust. At this point, Naruto felt the conversation nearing its end. Seeking to hasten the development, he quickly asked, "Permission to leave, Hokage-sama? I think you have an idea of where I may be." As if to enunciate his sentence, he made a pointed glare outside the window at the Hokage monument.

Sarutobi put his pipe out, sighing at his successor's son urge to leave, while being slightly pleased at how Naruto's shapeshifting could increase the secrecy about his training, and further shield him from probing eyes. "Yes, Naruto-kun, you may leave right now." With another sigh of relief, Naruto gave a short, curt bow, before leaving via the window, wall-climbing down.

After Naruto had left, Sarutobi sighed again, before levelling a glare at the Inuzuka captain. Kazuo noticed the glare, and began to squirm under the Hokage's piercing eyes. "What?" was all he had to ask the aged leader of Konoha.

"You think," Sarutobi said in a low, level grandfatherly voice, which only had the intended effect of scaring the ANBU member even more, "That you could have told him that he was Minato's son in _any more blunt a manner?_" He ended off speaking the last five words with a due emphasis.

Kazuo just winced for a moment, before laughing it off, as he had begun to show the more playful side of him that had been brought out during his training underneath Jiraiya. "With all due respect, it was all or nothing, Hokage-sama. From what you've told me the kid doesn't like having secrets kept from him. I just figured that I should come out and say it," He stopped, and began to strum his fingers along his lips, "Although I suppose I should've told him I knew his father first, then when he asked, tell him who his father was."

All the Hokage could do was reply with a facepalm.

"Before I go," Kazuo added, "You don't have any problems with my taking him in?"

Sarutobi just sighed. "I know that I didn't allow you and Rose to do so years ago, but that was then. Most of Konoha has forgotten about him, and he can protect himself now. So no, I no longer have any qualms." With that, he picked up a pile of paperwork and started to leave the office, showing intent to end the conversation. Kazuo took the initiative and ducked out the window, intent on following Naruto to wherever he had gone.

---

After a steady few minutes of meditation, Naruto opened his eyes, expecting to find himself in the fox den that the Kyuubi inhabited. Suprisingly, the scenery was nowhere near what he had expected: instead, not only was he not anywhere near Kyuubi, but the shape of his soul had reverted back to a sewer just like it had been when he first came here two and a half years ago. However, he quickly noticed some changes in the features; the area was brighter than it had been before, the water had retreated to only an inch above the floor, the crumbling walls had shaped up and weren't in as much of a mode of disrepair, and the general feeling of dismalness was gone. Even though he wasn't placed right where the Kyuubi was located at, he mused, there was a small benefit in that: he could pull off the drama of marching into the Kyuubi's chamber, the need for an occasional bit of flair while going about with his social interactions having grown on him over the past few years, in particular for the confrontation he was going to have with the damned kitsune today.

Weaving his way through the sewer maze, he once more followed the red pipes indicative of the Kyuubi's yokai coursing through his system, tracing it back to its source. Coming to the great hall before the Kyuubi's residence area, Naruto grabbed the large doors and swung them open, trodding in, looking up at the demon's glowing red eyes and speaking four words, "You knew, didn't you?"

The great kitsune demon lifted his head off the cell ground, and responded back in favour with a short, firm reply, **"Hai, I did."**

Naruto's shoulders visibly sagged in defeat at the rebuttal, its lack of denial or placativeness taking the protest out of him. Still, he did have one other question to ask: "You knew that I don't like secrets being kept from me, so why keep my otou-san's identity secret from me?"

Kyuubi sighed, remembering that Naruto was only seven years old, no matter how mature he may have been amongst other seven-year-olds, and hence possessed certain characteristics: when a situation didn't go their way, they had to latch on and gain as much as they could from it. **"What good would it have done you to know?" **Seeing Naruto beginning to pipe up, he cut the golden-haired shinobi-in-training off before he could speak, **"You would have been in turmoil over whether to respect or hate your father for the actions he took. You would have constantly been comparing yourself to him every step of the way in your own progress, and beaten yourself up every time you fell short in the face of your ancestor's legacy. No, I thought it best you not know for some time, and look where that landed you: for nearly two and a half years I have not once seen you in a depressed mood wondering about who your parents were, or what they were like."**

Naruto paused, first listening to the kitsune's words, then digesting them and thinking it over once the yokai was finished. Slowly, he came to the conclusion that the Kyuubi was correct; however, all his reasons were of a logical kind, but it wasn't his rationality where Naruto was hurting – it was his emotions, to find he had been orphaned to this harsh world and forced to fight every step of the way when his life could have been somewhat easier if people had just known he was the Yondaime's son. Caught up in his thinking, the blue-eyed wonder wandered across a stray thought, and burst out laughing. Kyuubi, somewhat concerned over his vessel's state of mind, questioned him. **"What is wrong, gaki?"**

Naruto stopped laughing a few seconds after his opposite spoke up, wiping away the tears that had formed during his spell. "I find it funny that despite your history with the Yondaime, you are more like a tou-san than the Yondaime ever could be." That one statement caught the kitsune off-guard, as he began to wonder. "In a sense, you were there when I took my first step, You 'gave' me the gift of language, and the ability to read, write and speak. You taught me how to hunt, and metaphorically read bedtime stories to me."

The Kyuubi stayed frozen in surprise; Naruto, misconstruing this as the kitsune declining to speak, continued on after another small laugh, taking a short bow. "My apologies for that, Kyuubi-dono. I just thought it was an amusing thing to look at from my point of view. Sorry to have bothered you; I shall take my leave now." With a popping sound, he left the mindscape, leaving a thoughtful Kyuubi behind.

_By Inari, what just happened?!_ , thought the nine-tailed vulpine. Mulling it over, the Kyuubi realized that he had grown slightly attached to his container. It wasn't something he had expected, but he should have been in retrospect. Chatting with somebody for every night for two years, when that person is your only sentient communication, does that to a kitsune. Still, he was a bit peeved. _Damn Kami, this screws my plans up a little bit!_

---

To say that the village of Konohagakure was impressive could be construed as an understatement. Where only a century ago there lied barrens, coniferous and deciduous alike dotted the landscape, a testimony to the power of the Shodai Hokage's Mokuton abilities, and the upkeep done by Senju Tenzou, a man who had been found in Orochimaru's experiment labs with the Shodaime's DNA (and subsequently his kekkei genkai) artificially implanted in him, and later adopted by the Senju clan. The village proper had been built in the general shape of a circle, bounded only to a large mountain to the west.

In the west end of the village were the offices and administration buildings that ran the companies and village business. The southern and northern portions held most of the civilian population, with the north holding more traditional homes and the south the skyrisers, as well as most of the shinobi-only apartments. The center housed the markets, while the eastern end was sparsely populated, the area dominated by most of the shinobi training grounds. Twenty-two clan compounds were littered throughout the whole of the village, the largest three being the Nara, Aburame, and Kaiju clans (this latter clan being one who had a minor kekkei genkai that allowed them to communicate with some forms of marine life), respectively needing large amounts of space to tend to deer whose antlers were used for dozens of valuable medicines, cultivate insects that were used to create silks and fertilizers along with several other more obscure objects, and to manage fish stocks in Konoha's largest body of water. Another seventy-ish more smaller compounds, owned by shinobi families with anywhere from one to a few dozen members, finished the repertoire.

Yet despite all that there was to see in Konoha, there was a universal constant that could always put resident and tourist in a constant awe: the four Hokage faces carved into the face of the great western mountain. Even in death, three of the Hokages already had been immortalized until the day Konoha itself fell. It was from atop the fourth head, on the spiky tresses indicative of the Yondaime, that sat an almost-exact lookalike of the fallen Hokage in his younger days, legs crossed over each other in a meditative pose.

Inuzuka Kazuo watched Naruto meditate from behind, presuming that he was communicating with the Kyuubi no Kitsune, as he observed the background that was Konohagakure. While the village infrastructure suffered little damage in the Kyuubi attack, the heart and soul of the village, the daily bustle of crowds, was gone, and it had only recently begun to return. Unfortunately, the dark days that followed the attack were, it seemed, enough to affect Naruto. From what he was told, while the child was originally bright and cheerful, he had since internalized his emotions and become somewhat more calm and calculative, something that no doubt was a result of the prejudice against him. Presumably his two year absence had solidified this state of manner.

He sighed. Much of the nature-named boy's childhood could have been avoided if Sarutobi had not been a stubborn fool seven and a half years ago when, following Minato's death against the Kyuubi and Kushina's death in childbird, both Kazuo and their other teammate Rose had tried to adopt Naruto, after seeing that their sensei Jiraiya couldn't do it. Instead, the old monkey had stubbornly insisted that secrecy needed to be kept at all cost, and a teammate of the Yondaime suddenly adopting a blond-haired blue-eyed infant in the days after his death would be suspicious, and had instead put Naruto into the orphanage. Because they totally couldn't dye his hair and then get him contact lenses once he had grown up a few years. While there wasn't much abuse outside of the one problematic matron, neglect had stolen the first five years of his life away, and he wasn't even able to stop it.

Kami, it was hard to look at his friend's progeny, the boy looked so much like Minato it ached. Take away the whisker marks and deepen the cheekbones just a tad and he would look exactly like Minato when he too was seven. Silently, Kazuo mused at how amusing it was that the only thing Naruto seemed to have gained from his mother Kushina was her last name. He missed her too. She was a fiery one, with a brash personality, who had brightened up the days when she came from Uzu no Kuni during the early portion of the Third Great Shinobi War. It had been her who had retrieved his pupil Ibiki from behind enemy lines and comforted him after he had been tortured, something he had been unable to do due to being deployed against the opposite front of the war at the time, and that was something he had never felt he had completely repaid her for.

A light moan interrupted his thoughts. Taking a look forward again, he saw Naruto shaking his head and standing up, taking a brief moment of glee in the fact he did it without his arms. There were many subtle habits that separated a civilian from a shinobi; not using your arms for support when rising was one of them. Listening closely, he tuned into another quirk of a trained warrior – low, quiet, steady breathing, done to minimize noise and ensure the body is well oxygenized.

Naruto did a full-body twitch as he realized somebody was around, and twirled around to see Kazuo standing right there. Deciding quickly that there was no harm in talking with the elder Inuzuka, he confronted him over his presence. "What do you want?" Blunt, but he wasn't in the mood at the moment to be polite.

Kazuo gave a small grin, and just responded, "Why don't we take a short walk, Naruto-kun?" Despite the look that screamed deviousness over his face, Naruto complied and walked alongside his father's teammate, taking the long trail down from the top of the monument back into the village. "Naruto-kun, in your lifetime, just how many people have you actually gotten to know?"

Caught off guard by the question, Naruto took on a look of shame as his face reddened ever so slightly, and he made to grab his right forearm with his left hand, a possible nervous habit. "Not very many," the sun-haired jinchuuriki admitted. "I managed to get past my lack of speaking skills at the orphanage with a couple of kids, though their faces and names I no longer remember. Mostly, it's six people; Saru-jiji, the two workers at the Ichiraku ramen stand, Ebisu-niisan and Itachi-niisan, and Kyuubi-dono. I've also been staying with a pack of foxes for the last six months," He added at the end.

Kazuo inwardly frowned at the mention of the Kyuubi and the foxes, but let it pass, having been reassured by the Sandaime that the kitsune held no malevolent intentions towards Konoha, though the old man had refused to state the reason _why_ it had attacked in the first place. Still, though, he couldn't help but feel unease at the honorific Naruto attached to the Kyuubi's name. Nevertheless, he continued on with the conversation, guiding the conversation as he had intended. "I notice that none of those you've mentioned by name are even close to your age, however." At this, Naruto perked up, wondering what Kazuo was going to say. "What if I offered you the opportunity to make friends with kids your own age?"

Now this got Naruto's attention. "What are you proposing, Kazuo-san?"

Kazuo flicked his hand in the air in a brushing motion. "Kazuo is fine." He stopped, suddenly, and turned to look directly into Naruto's eyes. "What if I offered you the chance to live in with my family?"

If he had been still walking, Naruto would've stopped so quickly he would've gotten a full-body whiplash from Kazuo's proposal. Since he was already still, he settled for widening eyes and a gaping jaw. However, he quickly recovered and started to point out all the flaws in the plan. "But haven't the Uchiha and Hyuuga clans been pressuring anybody who tried to adopt me? I'm sure they wouldn't accept a 'lesser clan' holding something like me."

Kazuo winced again at how Naruto said 'something' as opposed to 'somebody', yet another reminder of _what_ he was. Still, he had already planned for what Naruto had mentioned. "True, they refuse to let anybody _adopt_ you. However, not once have they said anything about you living with somebody. They can't realistically protest if I invite you to stay over at my place, and repeatedly invite you every day of the year." Of course, there were other reasons some of the higher-ups still were pressuring people. They were _afraid_ of Naruto. Kazuo had only been around the kid for less than a day, and already he saw the fire that burned in Naruto's eyes, the willpower that carried him forward through his every step. This kid would be something – he would be a revolutionary of something, and others were afraid they would lose their power in the process.

Slowly, Naruto caught onto what Kazuo was insinuating. He wouldn't be adopted, but he would still live with Kazuo's family. However, he wasn't finished yet with ironing out all the kinks. "What about needing an address, though? Even if I'm not legally a part of the clan is there anything against having an outsider live in a clan compound?"

Kazuo shook his head, having read the legal stuff over thrice. "No, there isn't. I've triple-checked everything over already." Seeing a look of doubt begin to cross Naruto's face, he added, "Even if you had been an actual orphan, Minato still would have wanted you to be taken care of. As his son, I owe it to him to at least take care of you."

The shadow of an unreadable expression flickered over Naruto's face, before he adopted a neutral look, as the two finally made it down to the base of the mountain cliff and into the village. "Very well, lead the way then Kazuo-san." With a short chuckle, the dark-skinned man hung a left down an alleyway, Naruto following from behind.

---

"You are sure about this?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama," came the Uchiha's reply. "My tou-san," Here he spat out the affection with venom, "Is moving forward with the plans for the coup d'etat, and the clan elders have begun to mobilize those in the conspiracy. Already a shipment of smuggled poison has arrived in from Kusagakure, as well as some specially crafted weapons from Kumogakure. Already several of the Uchiha who have any skill will seals are stockpiling large-scale explosion tags."

Sarutobi sighed at his captain's reply. "Very well then, Itachi, I cannot in good faith allow the Uchiha Clan to continue on any longer. Continue to investigate, and once you have more information, if it looks like there is no way back, then you will have to take the final option."

Itachi just stood there for a few seconds, face blank, but the Sandaime could tell the black-haired boy was warring within himself over confliction emotions and ideals. He had to give the young ANBU captain credit, though, as Itachi quickly either got over or put aside whatever internal turmoil he had, blinking, and then said, "It shall be done, Hokage-sama," before bowing in respect. Taking the lack of response from his leader as a dismissal, he got up to flee.

As Itachi left the room, the Hokage reflected. The loss of most of the Uchiha clan, and Itachi in particular, could set Konoha back years in terms of morale and shinobi strength, something that had been woefully lacking since the Kyuubi attack. Even worse, with Itachi gone, he feared a part of Naruto would break. Already, from the reports he had gotten from Ebisu and Itachi over the past two years, he had begun to be aware that Naruto's true loyalty was not to Konoha, but so long as Konoha fulfilled the same ideals and had the same philosophy as he possessed, and so long as he thought he could contribute, Naruto would stay in Konoha. The instant the Village Hidden in the Leaves lost its way or regained a significant amount of strength to not need Naruto, the young lad would leave, going on his lonesome to forge his own way in life. Not even the knowledge of who his father was seemed to be enough to bind him to Konoha.

It wasn't even as if Naruto had to do it illegally and become a missing-nin in the process. There were several clauses that could allow him to leave legally, varying from simply retiring after a certain amount of missions to using his status as a Hokage's son to gain permanent travelling rights.

_What a mess_, the aged leader summed up in his head.

**---**

It was with a bit of nervousness that Naruto approached the Inuzuka compound while following the brown-haired ANBU captain. Living in the wilderness like he had for some time, and growing accustomed to being around foxes, he was a bit edgy at the smell of canines that drifted over from the kennels. Composing himself, he kept to Kazuo's side, wondering which home he was to stay in, being unaware of how high up in the Inuzuka clan hierarchy the older male was. _Actually_, Naruto thought to himself, _that's something I should probably find out._"Neh, Kazuo?"

"Hmm?" was the lazy response.

"Just how important are you to the clan overall?"

Kazuo let a small smirk slide over his lips. "I was originally the clan heir."

That piece of information made Naruto stop in his tracks with a halt, yellow hair bouncing with a flop at the jerk, as the two came to the front door to one of the larger buildings in the compound. "The clan heir?!" He yelped. Then the rest of Kazuo's sentence caught up with him and he asked, "What do you mean, 'originally'?"

Kazuo sighed wistfully, as a hint of nostalgia flickered in his eyes before disappearing. "Exactly what I mean. I was the firstborn of my father, the previous clan head before he died in the war." A flicker of emotion passed his face, sombre in its quality. "Unfortunately for my old man, I was far too wild to settle down for many years, preferring to bask in life, and so I forfeited my status as the heir to my sister, Tsume." Looking to the door in front of him, he rapped his knuckles on the wood thrice in an odd form of a knock.

"Oh," Naruto looked slightly downcast at having brought up something that reminded the older man of his own dead father, but curiosity got the better of him as he picked up on another thing that Kazuo had said. "What do you mean, too wild to settle down for many years?" Despite the strides he had made in maturing, Naruto was still only seven years old, and many figures of speech simply went over his head.

Kazuo misinterpreted the reason behind Naruto's question, however, and assumed he had asked what had happened to tame him. "Well, your father and I had another teammate, Rose. We were on the same jonin squad during a part of the Third Great Shinobi War, and she managed to keep me from getting out of hand." Letting out a small chuckle, he continued on, "We already knew each other from our genin days of course, but war changes people, sometimes for the better, and we grew closer together during those dark days."

Naruto was still mystified, to the point that he didn't even hear an approaching rumble. Kazuo decided to let things elaborate themselves. "Well, you'll see," was all he had to say.

The situation was enlightened for Naruto when the door burst open inwards and a brown blur jumped out from the entrance right into Kazuo's open arms. For all of Naruto's developed instincts, he was caught off guard by the movement, and again when the blur refocused itself into a brown-haired, brown-robed little girl who quickly squealed out "Tou-san!"

Kazuo let out a sigh, yet his amber eyes glimmered with amusement set off by the rays of the rising sun. With a grace that screamed of familiarity of the action, he unpinned one arm from the girl and flicked her on the nose. "Now now, musume, normally I would not mind, but I do have company over this time."

The girl was suddenly aware of Naruto's presence. Looking over to him she flushed slightly, and Naruto finally got a good look at the girl, who he presumed to be Kazuo's daughter. She shared the same amber eyes as her father, but her brown hair was several shades lighter than her father's, being only a sandy-brown, grown down to her back, while her skin only had a tanned complexion to it. She was cute, Naruto had to admit, with a small nose that one could definitely use the term 'dainty' for, and deep-set cheekbones that one often saw in the nobility.

Said female turned her view back to her father. "Tou-san, who is this?"

This time Kazuo held in a sigh, though he could not fault his daughter for her lack of manners; he had done much the same when he was young too. Setting his daughter down, he turned her to face Naruto. "Mikoto, this is Uzumaki Naruto, the son of a friend of mine, Kushina Uzumaki." Naruto caught on quickly; his maternal heritage was alright to reveal, but for now his father was still something to keep quiet about. "Naruto-kun, this is my daughter, Inuzuka Mikoto."

Not wishing to be seen as impolite, Naruto did a quick bow, and followed it off with, "Nice to meet you, Inuzuka-san."

Mikoto wrinkled her nose cutely, and began to wave her hands frantically, "Ah, no need for that! Mikoto is just fine? Um...do you mind if I call your just Naruto?"

"Ah," Naruto responded with a jerk, seemingly dazed, "Yes, that would be fine, er, Mikoto."

Kazuo looked on over at his daughter and his teammate's son, restraining a chuckle at the awkwardness in their interactions. Kami, but Naruto was still a seven-year-old, and while he understood that Naruto had been forced to mature, and would continue to be forced to mature, it would not hurt for him to have the change to be a child sometimes. This was one of those times, and he could always use the light blushes they wore and their shyness as blackmail in the future. "Ah, Mikoto, Naruto here however is an orphan, left over from the Kyuubi attack. " Seeing he had his daughter's attention, he frowned at the pity in her eyes. He doubted Naruto actually wanted pity. "He has bounced around a bit in the caretaker system for orphans, however, it wasn't until recently that I realized he existed, due to the chaos surrounding the village after the attack; henceforth, I enlightened him and asked if he wished to be taken into the family, and Naruto here has said yes." He delivered his lines with a smooth face, mixing truths, half-truths and lies all in one so that Naruto would not have to keep his dark secrets safe from a curious Mikoto.

"Oh," was all Mikoto had to say, before another thought popped up in her head. "Will he be undergoing blood-bonding, then?" Blood-bonding was, of course, a ritual used by the Inuzuka involving seals and blood when it adopted a person into the clan that gave the adoptee the same ability as a natural Inuzuka had to communicate with canines, although at a weaker capability. Nobody was quite sure why it worked, considering that attempts to replicate the ritual with many other bloodline clans had always failed, but a few had chalked it up to that the communication part of the bloodline was less physical and more psionic in nature than other bloodlines such as the Hyuuga and Uchiha dojutsu or the Akimichi's bodies that allowed them to use their size-changing jutsus.

As such, the Aburame and Kaiju clans were able to also utilize the process due to their own bloodline partially consisting of psionic links with other creatures of nature, but the Aburame declined to do it because only Aburame children had bones that were hollow enough for the kikaichu, the specialized bugs that took residence within the Aburame's bodies; the Kaiju only used it on a rare basis, as their bloodline did not weaken over generations of marriages to spouses outside of the clan. The Inuzuka had used it to their advantage, bringing in several orphans as breeding stock for the more physical traits of the Inuzuka such as higher physical senses, raising them into fine members of society and ninjas, allowing their prestige to increase and become the third most powerful clan in the village, behind the two eye-wielding clans.

Kazuo frowned at her question, not because of the question itself, but because she had directed it at him, as opposed to Naruto. It couldn't have been because she thought that Naruto was ignorant of the process, because all adopted children were informed of the process beforehand, and Kazuo knew well that Naruto had read up on the customs and traditions of all of Konoha's clans. She seemed to still be too shy to speak more than a couple of sentences with Naruto, and something even more personal than the matter of suffixes, such as a blood-bond, was seemingly out of the question for her to ask him about. If the two were to live underneath the same roof, they would have to be able to talk to each other on a regular basis, even if Naruto had to keep such secrets as the Kyuubi, his heritage, and his stint in ANBU from Mikoto.

"Mikoto," Kazuo began to lecture her sternly, "If you want to know something like that, then why don't you just ask the person? It's particularly rude when Naruto is standing right next to you."

His scolding of her was rewarded with a gasp and Mikoto looked mortified, before turning her body clockwise to face Naruto. Red in the face with embarrassment at realizing what she had done, she quickly began to speak, "Ah, I'm sorry, Naruto. Can you please forgive me?"

Naruto nodded and confirmed his nod by responding, "Don't worry, Mikoto, I know you didn't mean anything of it." Without even realizing it, he went on right to ask his own rude question. "Um, shouldn't you have a dog or something?"

Kazuo let out a brief chuckle as he saw his daughter look scandalized at how easily Naruto had asked the question. Deciding to break things up before relations could degenerate between the two, he put an arm on each of their shoulders. "Now now, you two, we will have enough time for that later. For now, I would like to show Naruto-kun here our household and introduce him to your aunt and your cousins as well as 'our dogs', as he so quaintly put it." Putting a bit of force behind his arms, he began to guide them through the half-open door that Mikoto had left open.

Mikoto had given up whatever argument she had been about to make at her father's prodding, something Naruto was secretly glad for, not wishing to upset his hosts. As he went inside the house, he was amazed by the feeling that was brought on by the combination of natural and artificial light illuminating the building, the 'lived-in' look of the furniture he could see from the front door, and several portraits hanging from a wall. One in particular caught his eye of a man who looked just like him and a younger-looking version of Kazuo. With those two out of the way, Naruto was easily able to identify the white-haired man in the picture as Jiraiya of the Sannin, and the black-haired pony-tailed girl as Rose.

Naruto wasn't quite able to put a finger on why his surroundings invoked such feelings in him, but he knew that, at long last, he felt like he was at home.

**---**

**Yo. Sorry about taking some time to update. I had this chapter like 80% done for 4 months but 3 months of those involved me packing up and changing locations (and chapters), and I forgot to bring the chapter with me, and the last month being lack of motivation and working on A Midsummer Night's Dream. The last part where Mikoto is introduced might seem a bit stunted, as that's the part where I began to write quick to get this out. I also did a bit of editing to earlier chapters to fill in a couple of plot-holes and change up a few awkward conversations.**

**That said, it's been like twenty chapters of Naruto manga released since my last update, so with all this Juubi crap I can safely say this story is AU. Well, it already was, but the history of the Naruto world is also AU now.**

**In any case, yay, I just snapped the trend of decreasing word counts in each consecutive chapter, and this one is over 10k words again. Go me! I'd like to say chapter updates will be a bit more consistent, but I can't guarantee that (though they should still come at least once a month), particularly since the next couple of chapters may likely be large and unwieldy with what I have planned for it. I have also taken off the Kyuubi pairing as of this chapter; while he'll be playing a major role in this fic, I don't quite think he quite fits the second character slot.**

**Yes, Inuzuka Mikoto is the OC half of the NaruOC pairing, for those wondering when they would finally be able to see/find out who the OC was. Speaking of which, I'd like to go into a semi-rant about the lack of NarutoOC pairings. Really now, there's a billion and one NaruHin pairings, a billion NaruSak pairings, a bunch of Anko/Ino/Kurenai pairings, a few Tenten, Hana, Yugito or Temari pairings (though I'm a big fan of the latter three), and then a sparse number of pairings with minor characters. My rant's going nowhere already but basically I think there should at least be a few more OC pairings, as they give you free reign to create a character's appearance, background, and personality, as well as more easily develop their interactions with other characters (particularly Naruto, which to me is the best part of reading an OC pairing), not to mention OCs give a bit more depth to the story. You might see some inspiration from Yukiko from 'A Tail of Two Bijuu' by Synica.**

**Before any complaints can come in about some of the stuff in this chapter that I've made up (Tenzou being an adopted Senju, etc.), please remember that for the most part I'm trying to expand on the Narutoverse instead of practically rewriting half the manga and staying within complete boundaries of canon. This also means that yes, I consider there to be far more clans than are shown in the manga (besides, if those were the only clans, then that would mean every clan except for the Inuzuka and possibly Aburame had an heir in the same class). Families are just smaller families that have a few ninja; for example, the Hatake would be a shinobi Family. The only thing that differentiates families from hijutsu-using clans are basically size, prestige and fiscal and monetary power. I'm not an abuser of Chekhov's Gun so a lot of the background information is only there to add depth to my version of the Narutoverse.**

**There are a few hints (not foreshadowing, just hints) in this chapter as to future occurrences.**

**Before I did a small rewrite, there was a bit more Sandaime bashing than the light amount there is in this chapter, but once I added in a couple of talking points it was definitely toned down. I didn't use any 'the council made me do it!' talking points in regards to Naruto going to the orphanage because honestly that whole idea is really overused, but having the whole populace up in arms is a tad bit more effective, a tad bit more original, and a tad bit more realistic working off a Hokage who's supposed to have supreme power over the village but is a peacelover. I also gave some good reasons why Naruto doesn't have his dad's last name but Asuma, Konohamaru and Konohamaru's unknown parent were able to have Sarutobi's last name straight from the get-go. I still managed some bashing with the whole 'let's go tell the village this boy has a demon sealed in him right after said demon has been stopped in its rampage!' though.**

**Speaking of 'teh council!' and 'my precious precious precious people' I've been trying to avoid some of the common clichés that pop up in most Naruto fanfics. There are a few incidents of abuse here and there (for the most part the burning as noted in the beginning of this chapter and in the first chapter) but otherwise it follows canon of mainly being ignored. Also yes I know that I mentioned the Hyuga and Uchiha are pressuring against adoption, but remember, that's pressure, and not actual authority.**

**I originally had trouble figuring out how to get Naruto into ANBU in the first place, from both ends of the issue; the administrative side and Naruto's side. In Naruto's case, I managed to work it out through his motivations in life (ie. not 'protect mah precious people!!!' since that's too overused and too corny but 'Make sure none have to live like I did or of similar or worse circumstances' and preventative measures that go along with it, as well as "If I don't kill a target, then someone else will have to kill that target, who might be less able to cope with doing such a deed"). I was having a bit of trouble in having Sarutobi go along with it, so I decided to bring in Akatsuki to influence him. Note, that the Sandaime here does NOT know about Akatsuki. All he knows is that someONE wants the bijuu. He doesn't know that this one person is gathering together other s-class ninjas, or that he's established a base in Amegakure, or what he wants with the bijuu, he knows nothing other than somebody wanting the bijuu. He's being realistic here, however – if a single person can find some benefit in bringing together all the bijuu, even if he dies, another might take his place. That, and while Konoha might be able to protect Naruto, it's far easier if he's able to protect himself, and the earlier he gets experience the better.**

**Since I seem to be doing a lot of thinking about the Narutoverse in my author notes (and getting reviews in reply to them too :P), some other random Narutoverse thoughts while I'm at it: in canon manga, because Hashirama Senju captured and sealed several tailed beasts and gave them to other nations as peace offerings, Naruto is (presumably because we don't know how many of the bijuu the Shodai actually gave away, it could be two or three or could be every one besides Kyuubi) the only jinchuuriki who would be hated due to the actions of the demon that he contains, while other jinchuuriki would just be feared or hated because of the power they contain (as their demons wouldn't have been stopped in a massive attack that killed hundreds of shinobi and required the life of their Kage to stop it, and since it's already been sealed up they wouldn't be so fearful of it breaking free).**

**Something that's fairly insignificant but still worth a bit of a look is the currency value in the manga. Since Asuma has a bounty of 30 million Ryo, after being one of the Fire Daimyo's personal guard and the son of the Sandaime Hokage, I'd guesstimate that it'd be the literal equivalent of about $1 million USD in terms of what one could buy for that, and so a bowl of ramen at Ichiraku might be about 25-50 Ryo, and D-Ranks might net about 1000 Ryo for a Genin.**

**Onto the Hyuuga clan: it seems anyone who ever writes even a slight bit about the Hyuga clan tends to suggest that the Main House has more members than Hinata's family and grandparents (that, or they have a clan council composed of Main House elders). Since Hizashi was branded with the Cage Bird Seal, a possible suggestion to have a couple dozen main house members is that there are five or six 'main line' families, each with their own children and parents and grandparents, and that Hiashi's family is the ruling family of the main house lines.**

**Lastly, one of the most frustrating things about the canon manga is the lack of an official timeline. Things like Konoha forming eighty years ago I can live with, but it's the events around the Third Great Shinobi War that are a royal pain. How long the war lasted, when it started, etc. The pinnacle of my own frustration on this is how much time it was between Minato becoming Yondaime and the Kyuubi attack – anywhere from a few months to three years is my own guesstimate, though for the sakes of this story it'll be about two years, and whether Orochimaru defected before or after the Kyuubi attack (because the Sea Country anime arc doesn't count). What's really screwy is that Tenzo is 26-27 in Part II, and since he was an infant when he was experimented on, that means Orochimaru must have started experiments at the very least 7 years before the Kyuubi attack (depending on whether the test subjects were only a few months old or were as old as three) to ten years before the attack.**

**Finally, plz review!11! Reviews make the world go around (or something like that). In my case they tend to make a nice big white bar pop up in my Gmail account. No, seriously. Other fanfics get like 100 reviews after only two short chapters and here I have 4 long chapters and only 50 some reviews :/ Ja ne.**


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